TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING...

“Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?”    

       William Shakespeare  (As You Like it)

This week I did something which I have not been able to do for the last 40 years. Then it was a routine daily activity. Well, I did not always do it every day. Two or three times a week would be more truthful when I was in the university.  I came to England in 1977; I never did it since then, till this week.

 I do not know what you are guessing but I am talking about taking a shower with normal tap water without mixing hot water. Tap water that comes to the house from the general supply through the underground pipes is very cold here. Everyone except a few odd eccentrics mixes hot water for a bath or a shower. I have been to India many times in the last 40 years but it had always been in winter months and there also I mixed hot water before a shower as the tap water was quite cold.

 It was not that in the medical college hostel the water was warm but there was no provision for getting any hot water. This was the reason why I and many others avoided taking a daily shower. In winter the shower under the cold tap used to be a very speedy affair indeed. At least it was good for the environment, wasting less water and electricity!

In UK during summer months the temperature has gone above 30⁰C many a times in previous years but the tap water has not been warm enough to shower.  This time it is different, the high temperature has continuously persisted for almost six weeks now. The ground has become hotter and the tap water is now warm enough to take a shower without adulterating it with hot water!

It is really lovely to have a long spell of hot and sunny weather but now it is getting hotter and hotter without any break. The grass and the meadows have all become parched and trees and shrubs looking sad and forlorn. I am watering the garden twice a day to keep the plants alive, the lawn is brown and brittle.  

UK and most of the continent is trapped into a high pressure bubble due to the Jet stream which has shifted to north. This is blocking  any cloud and rain to come in. This, with long days and the Sun high up in the sky , no wonder we are baking.

Funny thing is that despite this, technically there is not yet a drought in the UK! The official definition for a British drought is at least 15 consecutive days when there is less than 0.2 mm of rainfall. Oh well to me it feels like drought.

The Met Office forecast is for more of the same in coming weeks. In UK the hot and sunny weather is very welcome but now after six weeks the guest is outliving its welcome. Too much of a good thing...