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| Roses in Regents Park |
Hi!
I'm high on vitamin D, which may well make you happier and lower your risk of
depression according to some reports that may or not be whacky because I read
them on the internet, and could not verify their sources; but I certainly feel sunny. Can you remember how giddily
gorgeous the weather has been in England and Wales in recent history? Me neither, I am always
surprised when the sun comes out in a constant way on our emerald island, and
when it does it is cause for rejoicing - except when observing all the naked
pink flesh on display in Regents Park - a phenomenon I was first gobsmacked by
when I arrived in London from SA in '86: "Why are all these English people
naked in the park - and why are they all pink - haven't they heard of sunblock
- outsized hats and shades?” I asked myself. I endeavoured to instruct,
inculcate, educate, wherever I could, but it just didn't work, when the sun
came out the British went berserk (and pink - the Anglo-Saxon variety anyway).
The
science bit:
According
to the experts (see above link) 'little and often' is the key to getting you
vitamin D via the sun. Nota bene, pink folk: little and often should not be
making you pink or ‘redden’ like you have been smacked on the bottom all over
by the sun.
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| The middle two on a middling hill in North Wales |
There is less pink flesh scattered about the place, here in Wales, where we are lurking for as much of the
summer as we can – mostly on hills and beaches, but also in paddling pools and in the garden. Yes!
A real live garden – you just open the sliding doors at the back of the house
and voila! – there it is, all splendid and twinkly with sunshine and flowers (in London we live in a rabbit hutch - though it is a centrally located one near Regents Park.) Man! I am one high Zimbabwean girl.
I still miss Africa (I lived in South Africa for five/six years as well as Zim) and often dream (in hot red and
orange) of going back there, but I do love the distinctness of the seasons
here. Zimbabwe, had the best climate going: mostly
hot (not unbearably so like many other parts of Africa) but dry, not humid, for a lot of the year; I loved the rainy season too - the rich smell of the earth after rain - now that was a natural high too - the magnificent thunderstorms...oh dear I am getting homesick; but I was less aware of the
change in the seasons there, except when the msasa trees came out in the spring
– think small leaves of pomegranate red; deep shades of burnished peach –
glorious...
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Here
in the UK, I look forward to each distinct seasonal change and enjoy spring (the
wedding-worthy pink and white blooms bursting out on all the trees in the park!) autumn: the children kicking up the
vibrant coloured leaves in their wellies - and the serenity of a blue-tinged snowy landscape in winter: stripped trees stark against white skies; in Wales the ice on the mountains, in league with the sun, slices your eyes with its glaring beauty. And then
there is the short, sharp shock of summer: always a sublime surprise. I'm in the pink.
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| People are not the only pink things to be discovered in Regents Park |
