Isn’t the weather just maddening right now; warm, summery, cold, wet, windy and even snow; as Crowded House sang in 1992, “Four Seasons in One Day”; clearly intended as a metaphor in the song, but apparently becoming a reality as we struggle to know what to wear when leaving the house in the morning. It’s never been like this before?
If you remember last year, we had a scorching March followed by a freezing April and then storms in May. This year, a warm and dry February followed by a freezing March and, as I am writing on 23rd May, snow blizzards.
As the old saying goes, “Ne’er cast a clout till May be out”, commonly used but what of the meaning? Generally the accepted interpretation would be, don’t discard your warm winter clothing until the month of May is behind us. However, another interpretation exists that makes more sense, by tying the changing seasons with nature; that you should take the same precaution regarding your apparel until the Hawthorn, also known as the May Tree, is in full bloom, thus signalling the beginning of summer. There you go, you learn something every day.
Still on the weather front (no pun intended), I happened to bump into a village worthy this morning and, in discussing the chilly start to the day, he recalled 1976 when they had to stop work on the 2nd June because of a snow blizzard. However, that year then turned out to be one of the hottest summers on record, with the temperature sitting above 80’C for four weeks mid June and into July. Maybe our selective memory recall makes us believe that things right now are a little random, but in fact it may not really be that different at all; expressed more eloquently, “It was one of those perfect Spring days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.” And, staying with quotes, Charles Dickens said, “Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade”; isn’t that just how it feels right now. Therefore, remaining optimistic and knowing that the trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it, let’s just hope; hope for a recurrence of ‘76 and keep the sunscreen and BBQ tongs at the ready.
June is the month for lots of fun at the various gala days and shows in the local area. We’ve got Lilias Day in Kilbarchan, Bridge of Weir’s Gala Day followed by their Gala Week events, Bishopton Gala Day and events, Kilbarchan Agricultural Show, Houston Agricultural Show and Accord Hospice Summer Fayre. Apologies if we’ve missed any - please make sure we get the details next year! Go to our village news pages and our diary to get details of when and where these various events take place.
Lastly, but by no means least, we were also delighted to hear that this month Gibb Stuart celebrates being in their “new” shop in Bridge of Weir for 20 years. However, their history in the area is far longer - in 1880 William Gibb Stuart established himself in the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir as an Ironmonger, Painter and Decorator. The business is now managed by the fourth generation with the fifth in hot pursuit; more on this inside our June issue.
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