Spring Time

It’s Spring in the Southern Hemisphere, and, just like our friends in the North, we often have unsettled weather in the Spring. Sometimes it seems like a pendulum swinging between winter and near summer, but with that pendulum occasionally getting stuck or swinging only part way. The weather lately has been all of that.

We’ve had a bit of wild weather, with some heavy winds and heavy rain today, with more bad weather to come. Parts of the South Island may have snow down to sea level, which is unusual for this time of year. On the other hand, yesterday is a was in the 20s at my house (high 60s Fahrenheit). I had the house opened up and just enjoyed the, well, springlike weather. It was very pleasant. Sunny had me let her out at 3:30am last night, and it was still 17, which is quite warm for nighttime at this time of year. At least we didn’t have hail this year, unlike two years ago.

Springtime also brings Spring Time: Today New Zealand entered Daylight Time (NZDT) when our clocks “sprang ahead” at 2am. All my computerised bits and pieces change the time automatically, but I now have four analogue wall clocks (for our young friends, that means a clock with hands we have to change manually twice a year). Three of those clocks were changed, but the I just couldn’t be bothered changing the fourth. Maybe it was Daylight Saving Time Hangover. We return to NZ Standard Time (NZST) on April 4, 2021, which is during the four-day Easter Holiday Weekend.

I’m not a big fan of this business of changing the clocks twice a year. I never used to mind, but getting older has changed my mind: It doesn’t take much to upset my equilibrium these days, and changing the clocks is a pretty big disruption—twice every year. On the other hand, it being lighter later is definitely a nice thing.

Now, if we could just get a bit more warmth, that’d be great.