It's all about the anticipation

The beginning of June has to be, unquestionably, my favourite time of year.  Our hopes and expectations of sunshine and warm temperatures are still alive, before being dashed by the realities of endless rain.  The air is filled with the promise of the summer yet to come; Wimbledon, strawberries, Pimms, ice cream cones, barbeques on balmy evenings, horses happily grazing in the fields enjoying the sun on their bare backs.  The lush green garden changes almost hour by hour, the smell of warm plants wafting through the open back door.  The still lengthening days have light in the sky until nearly bedtime and dawn arrives hours before getting-up time.  At school, this time of year generally meant the freedom of exam leave, the end of teaching for the year, the thought of summer holidays stretching out in front of us.

It's all about the anticipation.  I am definitely a save-the-best-until-last sort of person.  The one who leaves the Yorkshire pudding, or favourite sweets until the end.  A bar of chocolate can sit in the fridge untouched; the thought that it's there, still to be savoured, as good as the reality of actually eating it.  In the brief time that I smoked, my last cigarette could sit in the packet for days waiting for the perfect moment to enjoy it.


There is one problem with this, such a build up inevitably leads to disappointment.  Cricket washed out by the weather; a below par performance by the Brits at Wimbledon; chilly winds blowing away any hopes of sitting in the garden; supermarket shelves stacked with unwanted barbeque food; the chocolate bar left so long that it has gone bobbly; sitting in endless traffic jams trying to get to the beach, and then not being able to park.  Unfortunately these inevitably reinforce the fact that the promise is better than the reality.

Enough with the doom and gloom though.  I'm determined to stay positive and believe that this year, the long overdue summer will not only live up to, but exceed our expectations.  Quick, pass the Pimms before I change my mind.