Memories

Yesterday as I was chatting with friends at a birthday celebration at the church, memories of our first few months in the UK came flooding back.

I am getting to be rather forgetful at times because my poor brain has so much to cope with that, like a computer that is overloaded, it freezes and I forget things. Fortunately Douglas with his OCD remember most things so together we cope. But for this reason I thought it would be wise to record some of these memories here.

I remember that as we went around the Circuit meeting folk, the question most asked was, " What have you found different since being in the UK?".

I also remember our answer, "Nothing much, we had a similar diet in SA, we drove on the same side of the road, we also used similar orders of service in church and sang the same hymns so maybe the weather was the only big difference."

Now after four and a half years I can say that much here is different and I need to note these as I am sure that when we get back to SA, we will also be asked, "What did you find different in the UK?"

I will try to mention one big change in each post so hope the memory does not fail.

The first big difference is the seasons. In the UK one sees clearly when seasons change. The weather changes dramatically, the scenery changes and the amount of daylight changes too.

We arrived in the middle of August in the Harvest season. The temperatures were in the high teens and it was still Summer time as far as the cloaks were concerned. Oh my, we had so many Harvest dinners to attend. Little did we realize that there was more to come. Everything was green and and driving along the country lanes was pure joy. The days were quite long but that would soon change as we noticed that these changes happened very quickly. One day it was light when you woke up the next it was dark.

The beauty of Autumn was wonderful with all the different colours all around and as Winter descended and the trees were stripped of their leaves there was a new beauty in the frost covered trees and fields.

Then came the snow. They all blamed us as they said that they had not had snow in this part of the country until we came. It was only when it snowed that I noticed that we did have slopes in our town and that it was not all flat as one had previously thought. As far as the cloaks were concerned we learnt the rhyme to remind us that they go back 1 hour in Autumn (fall) and forward 1 hour in Spring.(jump)

Spring with the lovely daffodils and tulips was also a very new experience. As we drove around we saw them everywhere and soon learned that even in this season there was a set pattern of what bloomed when.

Finally the Summer arrived with long days and short nights. Temperatures were much higher and one even found oneself wishing for a few fans to help make living cooler. Outdoor living became the norm as one tried to get cool. The roses and other flowers were a sight to see and the ice cream van made a daily appearance and stopped outside our front door. Happy times. Good memories.