by bitingmylip
Ah, back to school time. Rucksacks overflowing with books, blackboards covered in misspelled chalk writing, shiny red apples, clever kids in supermarket clothing keen to get back to school and show off their new grey jumpers. Well, that’s what those people in charge of shop windows and TV advertising want us to think, anyway.
Of course in reality the Back To School period is a traumatic time, not least for the students and teachers having to join in with the 7am starts and public transport battles. For the rest of us, it means more congestion on the roads, less chance of getting a seat on the bus and, most importantly for everyone, the End of Summer. Woe.
We might not have had much of a summer this year, but still. No more sitting in the parks and on the commons with a bottle of wine and a big bag of kettle chips (well, until it rains at least.) No more congregating on the pavements outside your local with a drink in hand (well, until it rains at least.) No more ladies tanning themselves in Green Park or wearing out their flip-flops on Oxford Street (well, until it rains and they have to run for their umbrella-ellas, at least…)
OK, OK, so we had no summer at all. There’s nothing to look back on except relentless rain and piping hot comfort food when you should be scoffing ice creams. And actually, seeing as it hasn’t poured with rain in, ooh, 4 days (touch wood) maybe things are looking up now August has ended. Maybe we can look forward to crisp, clear mornings when it’s cold enough to wear your funky scarf and little jacket, but not so cold your nose runs and your eyelashes freeze. Maybe instead of shivering outside under drizzling skies, we’ll all be sitting in our favourite pubs, warm and cosy next to a log fire or something. Fallen leaves will crunch satisfactorily under commuters’ feet and the smell of woodsmoke will fill the air…
Alright, this is London, so more likely it’ll be chewing gum under commuters’ feet, petrol fumes in the air, coats that are more like sleeping bags and no space at all in your favourite pub. But still. It has to be better than that wash out of a summer. Get back to school everyone. Here’s to Autumn.
