IRISH ASSUMPTIONS OF WEATHER
- Catherine Brophy
- 13 hours ago
- 2 min read
We're a small island at the edge of the Atlantic. We're used to weather.
"Four seasons in one day," we boast to tourists unprepared for rain."
But that's just in Summer.
In winter it's bare, and it's bleak. Grey clouds hover over your nose. There's an East wind that would skin you.
And we never get snow.
Maybe the occasional flurry, but...
Not the feathery flakes.
Not the magical duvet of dazzling white.
Not the vivid blue skies.
Christmas cards have betrayed us.
Yet we still believe a White Christmas is possible.
Not so far.
Come Spring, come the first sunny day, we whip off our clothes and bask. Our skin turns bright red.
We hope it turns golden brown.
It never does.
Irish skin is not made for the sun.
And yet...
My Aunt Eileen travelled to places and returned with traveller's tales. She showed me a photo. A street in Spain. Mostly sunny, one bit in shadow. A woman walking in the shadow.
She's walking in shadow!
What's wrong with her?
"Why would she do that?" I asked.
"The sun is too hot." Aunt Eileen replied.
I refused to believe it. Who on earth, with a titter of wit, would choose to walk in shadow when they could walk in glorious sunshine?
Because of Aunt Eileen's tales, I developed a serious itch in my feet.
I travelled. Aunt Eileen was right. Sometimes the sun is too hot. Sometimes shadow is simply delicious.
One time in a hostel in Athens, I met a Galway lad. He'd just finished his first year as a Primary school teacher and this was first time to travel.
"Wait till I tell you." He exclaimed, with astonished grey eyes.
"The sun shines here every day!
Every
Single
Day!
I've been here for three weeks and it's never rained!
Not once!
Not even a shower!"
My friend Caleb is just back from Hamburg in Winter.
"Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah." His eyes lit up and he sparkled.
"We arrived in a snowstorm."
"Wow."
"It was fabulous."
"Did you see all the sights?"
"No, we saw nothing. We just had a great time walking about in the snow and finding cool places to eat. Magic."
We may boast all we like to Summer tourists about having four seasons in one day. But, the range is restricted.
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