It's summer, but don't pack away the winter coat
Posted on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 01:59 PM
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I offered my daughters some fashion advice the other day that I thought I'd share with you: May is the new February. Dress accordingly.It's been cold here. Not icy, but cold. Too cold for the first week of May, which in Ireland is the first week of summer. ("Summer?", you ask. "Yes," I reply, "in Ireland summer runs from May 1 through July 31." "Why?", you ask. "Well," I reply, "I don't really know, but that at least puts midsummer right around June 23 when Midsummer is celebrated. I guess.")
Anyway, back to the cold. Last Friday evening I was out for a post-dinner walk with the family along the seafront in Bray, Co. Wicklow. It was breezy and pretty cold, probably in the mid to high 40s. It wasn't late; the sun hadn't even set yet. Besides, the east coast of Ireland is not the kind of place where it's 85 at midday and 35 at midnight.
It was a cool day followed by a cold evening heading into a cold night.
That was when I passed on my advice. One of my daughters was decidedly under-dressed for the weather. She'd read the calendar, not the forecast. That was the 7th of May and it had already been a cool first week. This week has, if anything, been cooler. Temperatures are struggling to reach 50.
None of which is all that interesting, unless you're planning to visit Ireland soon (might want to pack an extra layer of clothing).
It's just that we're coming off the coldest winter in 40 years and now I'm wondering if we're about to have an equally cold summer. Seeing as no one has mentioned it, I presume that ash from the volcano in Iceland won't affect our weather, unlike 1816 when an eruption in Indonesia produced 'The Year Without a Summer'.
No, probably nothing to do with the ash or the volcano. Just one of those things – a cold spell. Still, there doesn't seem to be any warming in the offing, which means my fashion advice still stands: dress as if it's February. Unless, you're like these three guys (below) and decide that regardless of the weather the calendar says it's summer and you're going to behave accordingly.
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TheYank | May 14, 2010, 06:38 PM EDT
jacersisityourself,
I did put in a word. I don't know what happened after that, but sounds good that things are working well now.
Yes, it's still pretty chilly, although I thought it was a little milder today. A little.
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jacersisityourself | May 14, 2010, 01:30 PM EDT
Still no let up in those northerly winds, still keeping temperatures down below average. At least the snow has disappeared from Lugnaquilla. So too has my ICentral crashing problem. Thanks if you put a word in; no problems since May 12th. Thanks too to the IC techies.
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jacersisityourself | May 11, 2010, 07:21 PM EDT
Techies in IC might need to look at it, esp given that rabbit who used my screen name to promote sales of jackets etc recently. Thankfully I have my winter-worn-out-but-still-warm jacket for these early May weeks! Good night and God bless to you and yours in Ireland.
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jacersisityourself | May 11, 2010, 07:20 PM EDT
Yank - *Yaw yehawnn* It’s past me bedtime and close to lock-jaw time here but the answer is that I use IE. I tried Firefox a few yrs ago on another ‘puter but didn’t like it. Tks for yr interest in the problem, wud like to see it sorted. I have a working virus, mal-apps checker on board, so-oh...? Others may have the same prob.
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TheYank | May 11, 2010, 04:21 PM EDT
jacersisityourself
This hasn't been happening to me. Do you use Internet Explorer or Firefox? I ask because I'm sure when I pass on this information that will be one of the first questions. Techies never answer a question without first asking a thousand other questions.
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jacersisityourself | May 11, 2010, 03:27 PM EDT
BTW Yank - I don't know if it's happening for you but IrishCentral web pages are crashing a lot for me in Ireland. Windows recovers them a few times but eventually IC crashes altogether on my 'puter. Any thoughts? No other website does this.
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jacersisityourself | May 11, 2010, 03:17 PM EDT
I could say those people were brave souls but then, ye see, I'd be talking of meself and I wouldn't want to draw attention to that. Wave surfing used to be a fave for me, and no black suit either. But your right, Yank - it's bluddy freezing for this time of year here in Ireland. Fear not, though, after three wet summers in a row, we're due a break. Methinks a hot summer's a-coming.
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