Wednesday, 4 April 2012

The Weather Lately

A few nights ago I jumped out of bed. There was an extremely terrifying explosion outside and from slumber, I was instantaneously hurled out of comfort zone to a crouch next to my bed, eyes partly blinded by the white flash.

That flash was lightning and that explosion was thunder. This was 4 o'clock in the morning. I got out of my room and found my mum awake too. "Wah scary ah" she said. I couldn't agree more. I have no idea what a real bomb drop is like except from what I've seen on film (this is despite being in an ammunitions depot while in NS) but I guess it would be as terrifying and paralysing. Perhaps more paralysing and painful with limbs detached and my foot in my mouth.

I couldn't really sleep for the next hour or so, By 8am the rain had stopped and cleared out any clouds to make the nicest, coolest morning we've had in a long time, traffic snarls aside.

On Sunday, it was dry as a bone outside with the heat searing down upon us like meat grilling on a barbecue. Madness. Everyone was running into the safety of shopping malls to be accosted by equally fuming sales assistants peddling their things to uninterested passersby. The heat was like a warm-up to the hot yoga class I had that day.

The weather has been freaky. Short sharp bursts of turmoil at either extremes of the scale. Scientists sort of predicted this. I'm not sure how. Probably from simply looking at the sky and writing their observations down. Extrapolating from facts. Some blame global warming. Others simply say it's normal. Others point to fewer trees to absorb gases and water. Then there's pollution too. Maybe the world is ending. (I'm sure there are apocalypse fans out there who are cheering the apparent onset of planetary destruction, the end of liver with onions, Justin Beiber and Euro-techno music too) Any way meteorologists slice and dice it, it's the man on the street still being left to his own devices - air-conditioning and umbrellas.

With all the recent wetness, I guess it's an opportunity to develop better umbrellas. And better non-slip shoes.

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