Crazy Weather and Alcohol

I have a lot of catching up to do on updating this blog. First, the weather!

I've now learned that spring in the Rockies is just as nuts as spring in London. We started off the month with snow! This is remarkable bc it rarely snows here - even in the winter. See photos of our street the day that we went to get our car (photo of that later) on April 6th. Then we had ACTUAL sun last week. It was glorious. Never really knew how important the sun was. One day we had sun, rain, huge hail, and then sun and rain again.

The weather for the last two months has been a bit rough for me. I'm actually starting to think I should get one of those sun lights that people with seasonal affect disorder get - after years of living in gloriously sunny Utah, I'm going through withdrawal! I've realized that it really affects how I'm feeling -which is not a good connection given the amount of cloudy, gray and rainy days we have. Actually, I've now learned a new way to describe it per the actual weather report: dull. Yes, it really says that - "Today will be cloudy and dull." And from what I hear, I shouldn't expect that much this summer. Apparently nice days like we had this Saturday (hit 21=70) are such a rarity that no matter folks have planned for the day, they let it all fall by the way side and go to the common (big patch of green open space). The ice cream truck must make a zillion pounds that day.

Anyway, side bar on the whole experience of people out on the common on Saturday. It was a bit of a people watching/culturally eye opening experience. We were among many who brought some food to have a picnic lunch and play some ball. The only thing we apparently didn't get the memo on was to bring alcohol. EVERYONE around us had a bottle of something. I'm not talking just wine or beer or even Pimm's here, but actual bottles of hard stuff. I don't think my years of living in Utah has turned me into a prude, but I am constantly shocked by the amount of alcohol Brits consume. And it's not just a European thing - it's different than the drinking I observe in Germany and France, where a glass of wine or a beer is drunk and enjoyed. Here, you just get the feeling that they are drinking to get drunk. Pubs are a big part of their culture as is the crappy weather. What's the connection? Drink when the weather sucks and celebrate the nice weather with a drink. Really turns me off from alcohol, even though pregnant women are not supposed to drink anyway!