Blog: Reasons to be disappointed that spring is here (From Chorley Citizen)

Blog: Reasons to be disappointed that spring is here

1:18pm Monday 11th March 2013 in Latest By Helen Mead, Lancashire Telegraph columnist

There’s nothing like a spot of sunshine for throwing gloom on what should be a good day.

We rave about its warm rays and coo over its power to revive and put a spring in our steps. “Ooh it’s lovely out there,” people say. And I admit, after a long winter it is nice to feel the sun on your cheeks.

But what about all the other stuff it brings, the things that leave you depressed and longing for October.

Things like:

• Reminding us that we really should clean the house. The first spring-like rays of sun made our windows look like they’d been sprayed with effluent. It highlights stray hairs – human and cat – on the floor and illuminates the zillions of specks of dust in the atmosphere. The sight can be so alarming it can send you racing to the supermarket and virtually clearing the shelves of Mr Muscle. I’m so disturbed by it, I’m even considering buying one of those strange baskets that you fill with cleaning products and sit on the stairs – why there I’ve no idea, people obviously think it is more important to dust the bedrooms than trip over the thing and break a leg.
   
• Letting us know that we are hopelessly out of condition. And need to get out and do some exercise. Of course, the sun doesn’t do this directly, but it brings out those early spring joggers with tight vest tops and bouncy ponytails who have spent ten hours a day from September to March in the gym and want to show off their fit, honed physiques.
   
• Reinforcing the fact that we need to lose a few pounds (or stone). I’m pointing the finger at those joggers again, and at the summer fashions that have started appearing. I actually bought a pair of shorts last year which I imagined wearing on holiday. Did I dare? Of course not. I worried that I’d be scouted by a passing researcher from Embarrassing Bodies.
   
• Fuelling arguments about fresh air and family days out. In winter I give in fairly easily when my daughters insist on staying in to upload their lives on to Facebook instead of joining us for a bracing walk. But when the sun is shining I can’t bear looking at their bodies slumped on the sofa and sallow complexions focused on some amusing clip doing the rounds on YouTube. So I try to drag them out, which involves a lot of shouting and major stress.
   
• Spelling an end to my favourite meals. I love hearty winter fare such as stews and home-made soups. But the warmer the weather, the less you feel like traditional, wholesome food. Who looks forward to a salad after a hard day’s work?