Winter comes to Ireland

The sound of wind and the fresh smell of rain woke me this morning, coming frigid and gleeful through the open window.

“But, it’s mid-September,” you say. “Why were you sleeping with your windows open?”

Well, it’s been stiflingly hot at nights here (yes, this is still Ireland we’re writing about). The news has been telling us that 2006 was one of the longest, warmest summers this country has seen in ages. For the last few months each night would find me pulling up the duvet as I crawl into bed only to kick it off soon afterward.

Autumn. Not “Fall,” here, but always “Autumn.” My favourite season, really.

Here in Athlone, the city council were late sticking up the annual summer flower baskets through the town. Maybe they were waiting for the weather to return to normal? In any case, the baskets look a bit forlorn this morning, their colours looking a bit washed out in the rain.

Tom Waits “All the World is Green” is playing this morning – a nice counterpoint (and somehow companion) to the grey world outside.