Hot Summer Nights.

We have certainly had a few hot days and we seem to be having some uncomfortably hot summer nights also. I must admit that I have not been too discomforted by the temperatures so far but I know that some are finding it very difficult to sleep and someone of our aquaintance could be found in their garden at 2.00am this morning drinking coffee and staring at the stars. What thoughts may pass through the mind at such a time and in such a situation we can only guess at. Considering the state of the garden perhaps or the state of their life in general. Perhaps they wished upon a star but you never know these days if the star you are wishing upon might not turn out to be a satellite and as Billy Bragg pointed out in his song 'A New England' which was a hit for the late, lamented, Kirsty McColl back in the eighties 'its wrong to wish on space hardware'.

Others no doubt, will have been tossing and turning under the duvet and counting the chimes of the distant church clock whilst wrestling with family problems or thinking about the tasks that face them when daylight breaks and, as always happens, falling soundly asleep just before the dawn chorus wakes them up again. Then there are those who rouse the dog from its slumbers and prowl the silent streets attracting the suspicious gaze of the occupants of passing taxis and police cars. A couple of nights of heat induced insomnia and people begin to berhave in all sorts of strange ways.

Inevitably though, the heat will break and more normal patterns of sleep and nocturnal behaviour will return. Those lucky enough to have partners can cuddle up to them again safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely to be cuddling up to a turkish bath. Given the time of the year that it is however, I dont doubt that it will not be long before the attractions of the garden seat again become apparent as the temperature rises once more.