Day 196

Today has been deliberately upside down because I wanted to get lots done before I did my Radio Stradbroke Show this morning, and had lots to do afterwards. Although it is later than I had thought it would get before I set virtual pen to paper.

Last night, I finally discovered what a song was that I kept hearing outside George’s bar in Agios Nikolaos, and now I’m listening to it on repeat. Le vent nous portera – the version by Scala and Kolacny Brothers. It’s the soundtrack for the whole holiday and the whole place now. And again, appropriately, it’s not an English song. Languages, the art of languages is supreme. I am doing about 10 minutes of Greek as well, and hope I’ll keep it going.

M and I have changed into jeans, socks, shirts and jumpers, and A keeps berating us for saying it’s cold, that we’re encouraging global warming by our attitude. The Met Office, meanwhile, has issued its highest ever warning for extreme heat in the UK. Interestingly, checking the forecast, nights are still going to be chilly (ie only about 15C) even when the heat wave is meant to hit us on Sunday and we’re meant to have temps of up to 39C. I can imagine it will absolutely horrid in London, and that the nights will be stickier than out here in Norwich. The irony, though, is that I was always taught (in Geography, I think) that England would always have a temperate climate because the sea acts as a kind of buffer zone. I was obviously sold a pup. The real problem here, though, is that the English don’t understand how to deal with extreme weather – people in hot countries don’t go out into the heat – they stay in the shade and have sunscreen on even then, because the sun reflects into the shade. People in cold countries don’t expose themselves to the cold, don’t wear ridiculous tiny shoes out into the snow and onto ice; they wear the right gear. Am I weird because I like extreme temperatures – hot and cold?

I do hope my blogs over the last few days haven’t been misunderstood – I do love this new house, I do love Norwich, I do like being here – I just don’t like being cold. I am not always that melancholy guy, as Colonel L called me on our Zoom earlier. And I am working very hard on getting the work/life/writing  balance right. Honestly.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 149