Is the Sun Even Shining Today?

I am noticing a pattern.

Days in England that are rainy happen. Stereotypically, they happen daily; but in actuality it is far less than that. British people just like to make it seem worse than it is. In New Mexico, when it rains, it is sunny beforehand. Then the clouds pour in, thicker and thicker, until the sky is dark and gloomy overcast. the darker it gets, the harder it rains; and if it was really really dark, then you know you are in for hail and tornadoes and you'd better be in the house. Here, it is just... grey.

Today I can tell the sun is up because I can see. But there are no clouds. It is just like the sky is missing. Just grey. Sometimes lighter grey, sometimes darker. But still grey. This is a strange sensation. It feels like I live in a completely different world.

This other-worldliness manifests in other interesting ways too. Sunrise, for example. I don't think I told you all, but in the winter it was dark at 4. Yes, 4 in the afternoon. Kids came home from school in the dark. I came home from school in the dark. The sun would rise about 7:30 in the morning, and set at 4. People went to work in the dark and came home in the dark, having never seen the sun. I still shake my head at that phenomenon.

Now that it is fast approaching Midsummer the tables have turned. The sun comes up at god-early 4 in the morning! Sunset is at a fairly normal time... 8:30 or 9. But 4 in the morning? Perhaps that wouldn't even be something I would notice if I would close my curtains against the sun that early... but here's the thing. There is no AC here, which is fine... but the breeze at night is nice. And closing the thick heavy sun-blocking curtains also blocks the breeze.

I wake up less at 4 in the morning when the sun comes up. But for a while, everyday, 4:30 Amy is awake. Suns up! I'm slowly training myself to block out the sun, which feels a shame since there is so little of it at the other side of the year.

On an update note: I finished my anti-biotics today. Called the doctor yesterday, as I am still wheezy and congested, to find out if they wanted to extend the course of anti-biotics. Let's just say that not all doctors here in the UK are as nice as the one I saw. I was told that he didn't know why I'd been put on such strong anti-biotics, that I wasn't coughing enough, that it was all in my larynx, and that the first doctor probably hadn't even listened to my lungs. I tried to correct him... but sometimes it is better to be a duck and let it all just slide off your back. I get to meet this guy next Wednesday, as he DOES NOT want to see me before then. Suddenly, I am not looking forward to going to the doctor.