barefoot earlier

I stepped out of the air conditioned office today into hot, damp air. It felt like stepping off a plane in the tropics. Walking home just now, a few heavy drops of rain fell, then a downpour and that particular smell of freshly wet summer tarmac. It's on days like this I enjoy the smell of the British seasons: soon we'll wake up, step out of the door and, suddenly, it'll smell of autumn. You won't be able to put your finger on what the smell is or what was different from yesterday, but you know.

Now, lightning is flashing round the rooftops, thunder is cracking and grinding and rain is pummelling onto the skylight. Up here in our loft conversion, you feel right in the middle of the weather.