When I started this blog I began but never finished a blog post that talked about some things I had learnt to appreciate about the summer heat here in Dubai. It’s now gotten to the point where we are far too far out of season for such a post but it occurred to me this morning that I might just have reached a point where I have enough to talk about for a matching post covering winter in Dubai.
So here we go.
Spending time outside – Sam and I have finally started making use of our roof in the evenings and it has been wonderful. I still feel pretty weird though, sitting under a palm tree and looking out unto a pool while layered up in jumper, socks (a novelty these days) and occasionally a blanket. I had underestimated how good it would feel to spend time outside again beyond the rush from house to car and intent to make full use of the opportunities I have to do so before summer hits again.
Gardening – Carrying on in the spending time outside theme, I’ve started a little container garden on our balcony. This is very much just an experiment, I may bee a bit late to have anything fully grown before summer and I’ve never planted in containers before, but I am looking forward to seeing what I can do. I’ve gone small, very small. There is one container with a couple of rows of carrots and another that was supposed to be for strawberries but is now going to be home to my little herb garden – which I should probably be simply referring to as my rosemary plant just now since the basil dried up during my trip to Scotland. The decision to buy strawberry seeds was made in the shop and one I immediately regretted once home and looking up how to grow strawberries from seed. Nonetheless I’m giving them a little try but don’t have great hopes for their survival. The carrots and strawberries I refer to are currently simply hypothetical since I only planted the seeds yesterday but I can report that my rosemary plant is loving life outside and has already perked up quite a bit.
Cosy-ness – Moving in-doors, I have been thoroughly enjoying not having the icy AC blasting constantly. Opening windows and having a cool breeze flow in! I’d forgotten just how great the entire concept of opening a window and it being colder outside than in could be! The chilly nights have also allowed me to start wearing jumpers, snuggling under a blanket on the couch and just to enjoy wrapping up and being cosy instead of sweating like a little piggy just from daring to do the dishes with no AC.
Imaginary Snow – This last one is a little cheeky since it does involve a fair doze of imagination but it’s nonetheless something I’ve been enjoying since winter arrived and not something I think I’ll be able to do once it’s summer again – or at least it would take a whole lot more imagination. Early mornings when the sun is rising, just before the sky turns pink, there is a sort of grey light. Everything is brighter and it’s clearly not night anymore and yet there’s not enough light yet for everything to have reached it’s full colour potential, the buildings and bushes sort of look like grey-toned versions of themselves. And the sand looks white. Wonderfully, gloriously white! this means that when I get up early enough (which to be honest really doesn’t happen very often), I can look out the kitchen window – bonus points if I can make a cup of tea in time – and admire the vast and sumptuous blankets of ‘snow’. The power of nostalgia never seizes to amaze.
