You're so stylish!

Happy Fall!

Yay! Lipstick matches the scarf, which is beautiful. I do like autumn, but I think I'd like it more if it didn't follow summer - that sounds silly, but I love the warmth so much that I resist and resent the ending of summer.

I suspect it's to do with the different climates we've experienced. My parents went to Southern Africa from England before I was born, and only returned when I was 10. So I was used to constant hot and sunny weather, with a defined rainy season which lasted a month or so.

I found England rather dreary (one couldn't rely on the sun's shining even in summer), wet, and chilly. Our winters are not usually severe but it wasn't until I put on too much weight that I stopped feeling cold most of the time! Our summers are only occasionally humid, so when we do have some heat I can revel in it. I still yearn for sunshine and it makes a terrific difference to my mood. I love thunderstorms (we had wonderful ones in Africa) and quite like wind, but I can't stand grey drizzle. I do love snow (we rarely get much), because after several decades it still feels novel and exciting (I blame/credit the Enid Blyton books I read as a child, in which they always had a foot of snow overnight).

If we had sustained periods of humidity I expect I'd welcome cooler weather too.

I certainly felt that Africa was home for a very long time, and now I'm not sure where home is! The life which I remember as a child no longer exists. I have been back to Africa, but not to where we were since it was so lawless when I travelled that they simply wouldn't let tourists go there. It was wonderful being back in Africa - the enormous spaces and distant horizon, the amazing night (the moon and starts are so clear and bright that one can easily understand how they were worshipped by ancient man), and the warmth.

But it would be impossible to live there now. I've just realised that my preference now for living in the countryside, with expansive views, just might have something to do with the space and openness of Africa!

I love the sound of Hawaii, but I can't cope with humidity. I suspect children don't really notice it, since I can't remember it as a child - but also I think where we were it was really only a problem for a couple of months in the rainy season.