Scorch

– It seems cooler outside.
– If you say so.
– It's been wearing, this unrelenting heat. It would be good if it eased off just a little.
– You're never happy. The other week you were complaining about the downpours and hailstorms.
– Quite. It was the start of May and the weather was like the middle of winter. Now a few days later we are sweltering in a tropical heatwave.
– And is that a problem?
– I rather like my seasons to fade gradually one to the next, with a bit of warning, if at all possible, rather than be plunged suddenly from one extreme to another.
– It makes life a little more exciting.
– I had only just put away my late winter/early spring coat in favour of my late spring jacket when after a couple of days I had go through my wardrobe to dig out my mid-summer jacket. And who knows what I will need tomorrow? It may well see the return of the duffel coat.
– It is always nice to have an excuse to wear a duffel coat.
– And what about the impact it has on the local flora and fauna? The daffodils were being flattened by golfball-sized hailstones last week. The swallows will not know whether they are meant to be coming or going.
– Do we get many swallows around here?
– I was trying to generalise. I just meant migrating birds in general. Not swallows in particular. They were just the first migrating bird that came to mind.
– I am sure they will work out what they are meant to be doing. When they catch sight of your duffel coat they will know it's time to fly south.