Hello readers! Slacking again aren't I? I've got a few posts to catch up on. I've been pondering for a little while on good Old Blighty. It's funny how I really miss England when I'm out of the country and yet there are things that drive me round the bend when I'm there. Goes to show you don't know what you have until its gone.....well gone temporarily......or rather I mean England hasn't gone anywhere, its me, I have gone away from England. Am I making any sense? Forgive me, its late on a Friday night and I've overdosed on a bar of Cadbury's Caramel.....yes they sell it here in Windhoek. Good old Cadburys.
And that brings me to other things I miss about England. Apart from obviously missing my family, friends and good neighbours in Bloomsbury House in Battersea there are three other things I miss. Having spent the last four months in an exceptionally arid country where much of the vegetation resembles a vision in all shades of beige, or brown or straw yellow.... I have to confess I am missing GREEN. Yes the colour green. England's green and pleasant land. That's not so say there are no green trees or bushes anywhere here, no there are but not many and with bare earth, or dry grass or rock in between. I miss green grass and especially the smell of freshly cut lawns in summer.
The second thing I miss about England, wait for it, wait for it...yes you guessed it, like many a Brit, I'm going to mention something about the weather. I miss CLOUDS. Who would have thought it? I'm living in a country where the sun shines almost every day in cloudless blue skies. What bliss I hear your cry? Well it is. I'm truly grateful. But every now and then I miss being able to spot the different types of clouds and notice their shapes and how they change the light, especially a steely grey sky in a thunderstorm with lightening cracking through the clouds looking like it would split the sky in two. Well the rains are coming and I did notice one or two clouds on their way, so perhaps I will be able to indulge in more cloud spotting soon.
The third thing I miss is a bizarre one and perhaps seemingly somewhat trivial but I do miss TRAFFIC LIGHTS at pedestrian crossings that actually work to the advantage of the pedestrian to help him or her actually get across a two or four lane road safely. By contrast traffic lights here at crossings are different. The green man flashes for barely five seconds, luring the unsuspecting pedestrian out into the middle of the road, only to immediately flash red and hey presto he or she is caught like a proverbial rabbit in headlights as cars, lorries and pick ups whizz past, running the risk of turning said pedestrian into road pizza. NOT COOL!
And that brings me to other things I miss about England. Apart from obviously missing my family, friends and good neighbours in Bloomsbury House in Battersea there are three other things I miss. Having spent the last four months in an exceptionally arid country where much of the vegetation resembles a vision in all shades of beige, or brown or straw yellow.... I have to confess I am missing GREEN. Yes the colour green. England's green and pleasant land. That's not so say there are no green trees or bushes anywhere here, no there are but not many and with bare earth, or dry grass or rock in between. I miss green grass and especially the smell of freshly cut lawns in summer.
The second thing I miss about England, wait for it, wait for it...yes you guessed it, like many a Brit, I'm going to mention something about the weather. I miss CLOUDS. Who would have thought it? I'm living in a country where the sun shines almost every day in cloudless blue skies. What bliss I hear your cry? Well it is. I'm truly grateful. But every now and then I miss being able to spot the different types of clouds and notice their shapes and how they change the light, especially a steely grey sky in a thunderstorm with lightening cracking through the clouds looking like it would split the sky in two. Well the rains are coming and I did notice one or two clouds on their way, so perhaps I will be able to indulge in more cloud spotting soon.
The third thing I miss is a bizarre one and perhaps seemingly somewhat trivial but I do miss TRAFFIC LIGHTS at pedestrian crossings that actually work to the advantage of the pedestrian to help him or her actually get across a two or four lane road safely. By contrast traffic lights here at crossings are different. The green man flashes for barely five seconds, luring the unsuspecting pedestrian out into the middle of the road, only to immediately flash red and hey presto he or she is caught like a proverbial rabbit in headlights as cars, lorries and pick ups whizz past, running the risk of turning said pedestrian into road pizza. NOT COOL!
