Beautiful, Grey Lakeland Sky.
The view from my back door: bucketfuls of rain and grey skies. My grandmother always said “it rains in the Lakes all the time, never stops!”. Now that’s not quite true, but it does rain a lot. She came from the Midlands and never got used to the weather here. But I love rainy days. It’s all about perspective. When we visited Cyprus recently my son asked me if it was a desert. You see he is just not used to the colours of Cyprus. He sees all the different colours of green of Home and it is a lush, fertile green, wholesome and welcoming. Cyprus is beautiful in its own way, but the greens of the countryside there are a more yellow hue, pdry green and where you see a more emerald green, you’ll see the correspending irrigation pipes. Now I love the sun and so does my son but we both missed the bright green of Home. Now you can have too much rain and Cumbria knows all too well the problems caused by lots of rain, some people haven’t recovered yet from storm Desmond. Thankfully that heavy deluge happens infrequently, but when it does, it is devastating. From year to year, the weather is more predictable. You can look at the weather forecast but that won’t necessarily give you an accurate picture. In one valley it may be snowing and in the next door valley there may be winter sunshine. The clouds can come so low at times you can feel they are within touching distance, although it is illusory. It is a truism to say you can experience four seasons in a day in the Lakes. Monet thought the light at Giverny was spectacular and inspired his paintings, likewise the fells and the clouds and the greenscape have inspired artists too and writers of course. Some people say when the sun shines there is no better place to be than the Lakes, I like rainy days, just wear the right gear and enjoy the clouds and the light play. Take a photo, paint a picture, enjoy the view and smile. There is no better place to be.
Beautiful, Blue Lakeland Sky
