Meteorological insanity

Can weather drive you mad?

I woke to another spell of heavy rain this morning. The forecast for tomorrow is for ‘showers’ followed by ‘thundery showers’ for Saturday, and what the weather lady described as a ‘washout’, on Sunday. Everything is damp. The place feels musty, and nothing seems to get properly dry. The days of windows flung wide open, fresh air and breezes, have all just become false memories, it would seem. Each nice day has to be paid for, by day after day of rain to follow.

Did it ever used to rain like this?

Winters under water, damp dank springs, and non-existent summers, spent under dark clouds and umbrellas. Or is it just me? Have I become so aware of the weather, so obsessed by how relentlessly bad it is, that I am losing my reason? My almost daily accounts of the weather over the last three years either prove my theory, or are the ramblings of a madman. And I don’t feel mad. I am sick of walking in wet grass, watching muddy footprints appear on the kitchen floor, and having to dry washing in a tumble-drier. I have become worn out by trudging in wet clothes, watching windscreen wipers operate in my car, and listening to the constant hammering of raindrops on the roof. The weather forecasts on the TV have begun to take on a sinister feel. Even when they say it will be good, I know otherwise. I know what to expect.

Can weather invade the subconscious?

I have dreams of water. Flooded sheds, or walking waist-deep in water that will never recede. I look at the world through windows that are constantly obscured by streams of water, or patterns of recent raindrops. I imagine myself running into the street, and shouting at the sky, like a crazy man. Plans ruined, days out spent avoiding a deluge, dodging between showers or torrential bursts. I am literally at the end of my tether with this constant rain. Even on the rare occasions it stops, the sky remains grey, and only the warmth gives any indication of the actual month. Every season is the same, nothing to anticipate, no changes to look forward to. Just more wet days, and dampness.

Is it possible, to truly hate weather?

I do.