Wonderful Wednesday #122
Clouds of pollen, on feeling balanced and some small joys from lately.
I’m writing to you this week from the bedroom floor. It’s 6:45pm and the temperature tells me it’s 21 degrees Celsius but I have my suspicions. It doesn’t feel like 21 degrees and I’m very much still recovering from cycling home from work during 27 degrees only a few hours earlier. And I’m lucky. I know most of you in the UK have probably existed in much higher temperatures these last few days and I salute you. I have no idea how.
Since this sudden surge in warmth I have been hiding whenever possible. This jump in Spring temperature—and it is a jump, only this time last week I was still tugging on a beret to take the pup out at 7am— has given me the worst hay fever I think I have ever had since…at least primary school age. Maybe even ever.
I have been doing a lot of thinking. Even sans hay fever I wouldn’t have been celebrating such an erratic jump in temperature. I have written here before how anxious the warm weather can make me feel and even if that’s nothing new what is new is the realisation that it’s not even just the warmth; not even now the seasonal allergies are back too but, that its that overall feeling of imbalance it gives me.
This year I have enjoyed how Spring has lingered. That a usually such fleeting season has stretched out longer and given me time not only to appreciate it but also to adjust. To take my time. To unravel gently, to lean away from the cold and begin to feel only cool and a little warmth. To watch as the world slowly wakes up too. Tentative shoots, creeping vines, first flowers and daylight that matches: Each day a little more, each night a little less.
In a world that is so often rushing and rarely stands still, this has felt like such a welcome change and gentle recalibration after the colder months.
This jump in temperature is sudden and the heat has felt like a lot. A definite leap right into high summer with no in-between or a sufficient (to me at least) end to a season that has simply ended abruptly. Too abruptly. I know this isn’t just inconvenience and that it’s also not normal and, to me at least it’s a sure fire shout from a world under stress and very much out of balance.
I also know that despite my—our—best efforts that I need to learn to exist in this place. That no amount of recycling all that I can, buying mindfully, eating seasonally or being aware will undo or change the balance enough for Spring to only be Spring and Summer to arrive more gently as I know they once did. So i find small ways to find balance and to exist alongside it and despite it because even if writing this all down seems like a lot, it’s important to address it and not to ignore it.
Those small joys have felt like a sanctuary. Little ‘things’ to celebrate in amongst a heavy-feeling few days that could easily have been swallowed up under the weight of the pollen and of the humidity. Here are a few small moments and things I have been most grateful for lately…
1 Cool nettle and lemon tea. I drink nettle tea anyway but, i recently learnt that it’s particularly high in something called ‘Quercetin’ a natural anti-histamine and plant pigment which can help to counteract inflammation caused by allergies. So naturally I have upped my cups! It’s actually really delicious if you brew it with a slice of lemon and leave to go cold. It’s been a refreshing something to sip on warm and hazy afternoons.
2 Hot tea. The opposite sentiment entirely! I really treasure my two cups of English breakfast tea and still—almost and weirdly especially— do during the warm weather. It somehow tastes more delicious and I appreciate it’s reviving properties a whole lot more after a night of sleep that has (lately at least) felt restless and unsettled.
3 Cool showers followed by cool cotton pyjamas and a cup of camomile tea. I find winding down difficult when it's warmer and so this is a must each and every evening to recalibrate and allow my body to cool down as much as I can before i go to sleep. I have also been reading my book with my legs up against the wall for maximum relaxation/rest and digest points! If you’ve never tried it and struggle a little with switching off before bed, popping your legs up against the wall really helps.
4 Early morning pup walks. Always and forever no matter the weather but an hour out with the pup when the ground is soaked with dew and there’s nobody else around is just the best way to start the day.
5 A week of meals that have only really needed reheating or put together. A fluke but something I’m more than grateful for as whilst I don’t mind cooking I do mind cooking in a very warm kitchen! We’ve enjoyed spiced lamb meatballs in flatbread, jammy eggs and beans on toasted sourdough with avocado and the obligatory burger squashed into a bun with as many gherkins and crispy lettuce as I can fit!
I do hope you’ve been surviving this warm spell…? If you’ve found joy in the smaller things then I’d love to know what they are…? I really recommend trying the chilled nettle tea if you’re someone who struggles with allergies or in this heat, it’s a really lovely sip! And the legs up the wall! So lovely to help settle an over-anxious nervous system at the end of a humid day.
Sally, I LOVED reading this. You have such a gentle way with words and I love how you describe nature. I’d deffo read a book of yours. I have been melting in 31°, trying to find the solace of shade wherever possible. Being a gardener makes you notice all kinds of weather, the slightest changes. I try and keep a diary. I’m just sitting eating my breakfast under the canopy of yew and ivy, looking out across a beautiful field filled with oak and pine trees. It’s cool but the sun is making such beautiful shadows. Also, I LOVE cold chamomile tea. I add maple syrup, lemon and vanilla. Soooo delicious!