Happy Summer!

Summer is finally here! I've been waiting. The clocks went forward an hour on Sunday, thereby heralding the official beginning of Summer. In the last forty-two hours of 'Summertime' however, I've been struck with many wardrobe related perplexities. Could I get away with wearing flip-flops to the corner shop without my feet becoming frosty? Should I really be wearing black opaque tights with dresses now that it's officially the Summer season? Should I save myself the bother of early morning decision making and just carry all weather defeating accessories with me (sunglasses, hat, scarf, umbrella) until the weather shows some sign of stability? And, crucially, has the time really come to embrace the pastel palette of Spring/Summer?

This morning I woke up to the sun beaming through my window, and it seemed I would be granted respite from the above questions, for the day at least. Relief.

But the sunshine and warmth was short-lived. This afternoon the skies darkened, the temperature dropped and I made the sad decision to close all windows in my flat. I started to doubt if Summer really was here at all. But just as the clouds began to gather and I sensed condensation in the air, a small Summer miracle occurred...

I heard the unmistakable musical sounds of an ice-cream van. Yes, they still exist. And this is what I heard from the vans loudspeaker:

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away"

How apt! Against the grey London skyline, the ice-cream van really was like a beacon of sugar-filled light. Ice cream, of course, makes everybody happy,and for today at least, the ice-cream van was my sunshine. But I'm still hoping it doesn't take our real sunshine away.