h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm very partial to those myself, although I'd go as far as saying anything between the first week of May and the second week of July. If the weather is good during that period, (the part of) Great Britain (which I'm familiar with) is just the nicest place in the world to be. Winter is at last out of the way, the kids are still in school, London (where I used to live) isn't yet horribly full of tourists, football season is over and cricket season is underway, the leaves on the trees still have that bright green colour, there may still be a few Jersey Royal potatoes to be had, temperatures are really very pleasant, the whole of the summer is still ahead, Rowan trees come into blossom (one of my favourite smells in the whole wide world), there's a whole heap of stuff to be done in the garden, and the way that the sunlight plays through the leaves of the London plane trees is somehow more beautiful in May and June. May I ask your reasons?

Much the same as you. I love those 6 particular weeks because that is when the trees are coming out most dramatically.

When I am in the UK I live in a very rural area, (Gloucestershire), and every single day the hedgerows are different, and something else is coming out.

But by the middle of June the leaves have lost that intensity of fresh green. I love cow parsley (queen anne's lace) and that lines the lanes then too. It is just so fresh, and warm, and light, and beautiful. And of course it doesn't last, which makes it special, and that is that until next year.

I am learning to like Autumn too, for the same sort of reasons. I have been here this autumn, but it has not made up for missing May this year.

Thank you for your posting, it is nice to meet other people who notice the same things.

You're welcome. That's what I enjoy most about h2g2 - meeting other people who are like-minded, and people who aren't. h2g2 is like a collection of all the best things about the www - blogs, discussion groups, home pages, information pages, and a sense of fun and of community. I spend waaaaaaay too much time here . Congrats on the Stockholm job btw. I can't recall if you said what you'd be doing there.

"(the part of) Great Britain (which I'm familiar with) is just the nicest place in the world to be ... London (where I used to live)"

Where to you live now?

Austin, Texas. I came here just over a year ago to marry someone I met... on the internet! I've been to America plenty of times before, and got lots of friends here, but only in places like New York and Los Angeles - Texas is quite a culture shock compared to those! Actually, Austin is a pretty cool place, and nothing like the rest of Texas, mostly I think because of the huge student population at UT (University of Texas). It's very comforting to think that the right wing and conservative governor of the state (G. Dubya) has to live and work in the most left wing and liberal city in the state, what with Austin being the state capital and all. Let's hope that he's still working here this time next year instead of the White House.

I agree with that one, though by all reports Gore is pretty bloody too.

Not sure what you mean. I'm not too well up on American politics (I got totally disillusioned with British politics too before I left), and I don't have a vote anyway. My wife wants to vote for Ralph Nader, but will probably end up voting for Gore because the worst thing in the world would be for Dubya to get into the White House. What a ghastly prospect.

Sorry, it was a bad pun - gore:bloody.

Bush's record on exectutions chills me.

I do know what you mean by British politics, and being able to avoid them is one of the best reasons for working abroad that I know of.

Oops, I'm stoopid.
Yeah, it's a slow week in Texas if there hasn't been an execution. It hardly even makes the news any more. The first time I caught a news story about one, it was pretty weird, and it's still kinda strange when they put someone to death.
I remember the day that Labour were re-elected - I had to drive up to Norfolk and back the day after the election so I couldn't stay up late enough to see Portillo going down (no puns from me ). I hoped that it was going to be a whole new beginning, but very quickly it became clear that there wasn't much difference between them and the tories. I really miss the 80's in London, when Ken was leader of the GLC, and as much as I hate all that Thatcher stood for, if she hadn't been there, the left wouldn't have been so prominent because her presence spurred all kinds of backlashes, even some of the best music of the time written in protest against the tories and what they were doing - Paul Weller, Billy Bragg, The Specials, The Beat. The 80's did something almost unheard of - they made politics interesting!!!