Summertime

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather’s fine
You got women, you got women on your mind

In the summertime – Mungo Jerry

I don’t think it will come as a great surprise for most of you that I LOVE the summer. It is hands down my favourite time of the year. I love spring because that means summer is coming but autumn makes me feel sad because it means winter is coming.

Summer means sun, well some, I live in the UK so it’s not necessarily the case! Sun means long sultry nights. Long sultry nights means having the horn even more than I normally do. Sadly I live with a partner who prefers the winter, which generally means his sex drive drops in the higher temperatures. Organising trips away is always fun, we try to alternate warm and cold climates!

I love wearing as few clothes as possible. Floaty summer dresses really are wonderful to wear and not having to wear socks is just bloody brilliant! It’s just a shame I work in a high air conditioned office which feels like a fridge so I’m still in jeans and DM’s on office days but if I work from home I’m near naked!

I’m generally in a much better mood in the summer. Lighter mornings and evenings cheer me up no end. Getting home from work and enjoying a refreshing cider in the garden has to be on my favourite things to do list.

Even the summery music cheers me up when I hear it. I have a cheer me up playlist which features summer songs that instantly change my mood. From Mr Blue Sky to Lou Reed to The Boo Radleys. They’re all guaranteed to raise a smile, even after a bad day. Music is something that alters my headspace very quickly.

All this said, something has sadly changed for me in the past couple of years. I never used to feel the heat, which meant I could easily cope in the humid U.K. summers. Then two years ago I was given anti-depressants, which had an adverse reaction in many ways. Other than the nausea, sickness and feelings of hopelessness they induced I had strange hot flushes. Well they were less flushes and more feeling like I was cooking from the inside. Even now I’ve been off them for two years it’s had a lasting impact on my temperature. Instead of snuggling up under the duvet as normal on hot days I’ve found myself needing a fan to keep me cooler.

This actually makes me really sad. I loved functioning in high heat without feeling any impact. Whilst I still sleep better in the higher temperatures than I do normally I don’t like having hot feet!

Maybe in years to come I’ll settle back down again and enjoy the heat as I always used to. Feeling energetic, wearing as few clothes as possible with a cider in my hand whilst having the raging horn!