Spring is Here!

(The question is, how long will it stay?)

I know that we here at the Educated Burgher have often made light of Scotland's mercurial weather. Mother Nature's whimsy can have an upside, though: the last two days have been unseasonably warm, up to about 60 degrees Farhenheit. After the winter we've just had, that feels like t-shirt weather!

The daffodils are out on the Meadows, too. I assume this means that, while the warm weather won't stay for long (seriously, I think it was warmer today than it ever was last August), Spring has finally sprung.

The glamorous expat life

Wednesday 24 March: Nana notifies letting agency that boiler is broken and flat has no heat. Temperature in the low fifties.

Thursday 25 March: Temperatures in upper forties.

Friday 26 March: Contractor comes to visit. Says that boiler is so badly screwed up it should maybe be replaced, and the landlord will have to decide what to do. He orders the necessary repair part and says it will be in in 1-3 days. He does managed to reactivate sink and bathtub hot water, which operates separately from radiators. Nana goes to ask letting agent for decision. Letting agent says the company is authorized to repair without consulting the landlord, and therefore Nana should just wait.

Saturday March 27: Overnight low in thirties. Flat unlivable. Having obtained a key from hero History Department admin, Nana and Justin spend all day working at the University.

Sunday 28 March: Temperature rallies to 43 degrees. Friend lends Justin and Nana space heater. Nana and Justin alternate between heating bedroom and kitchen workspace. Load of laundry is attempted; humidity in kitchen means laundry won't dry.

Monday 29 March: Contractor calls to schedule boiler appointment. Overjoyed, Nana schedules it for Wednesday AM, soonest possible time.

Tuesday 30 March: Temperatures fall below freezing, with severe winds. Power lines, and thus space heater, flicker. Snow overnight.

Wednesday 31 March: Ice in toilet. Repairman arrives but is apparently not here to repair, but rather to get another estimate of cost of replacing boiler. Puzzled and cold, Justin and Nana visit letting agent, who says that the landlord decided he wanted to hear about replacing it. Justin and Nana ask why they could not have been notified of this delay. Letting agent says they are far too busy scheduling repairs to contact tenants about scheduling repairs. Justin and Nana want to ask precisely whose flat is getting repaired, as it is certainly not theirs. Instead, they ask why this estimate could not have been done one week ago, when the man came in the first time. Letting agent passes buck. Letting agent discloses that contractor is supposed to supply temporary space heaters when they can't repair the boiler immediately, and pledges to have heaters delivered today.

Justin and Nana pardonably skeptical.

The Vernal Equinox

Today is the vernal equinox, which means that everywhere in the world will get roughly the same amount of daylight today.

Since the autumnal equinox back in September, every day in Edinburgh has been shorter than we're used to, having spent most of the last 25 years between 35 and 45 degrees north. In December, the days were really short--full dark by 4:30 most days. From now, however, every day will be longer than we're used to--not by much at first, but by June it won't actually ever get fully dark.

Just another reminder of how far north we are here in Scotland: if you drew a line across the globe straight West from here, it would pass through Labrador in Canada and through the very southern part of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.

What's up with the rainbows?

The Scottish are, by their own admission, obsessed with the weather. They say that it's because the weather changes every ten minutes, but there's a lot of truth behind the joke.

The upshot of all this is, of course, a profusion of rainbows. Almost any time there's sun where you are, it's bound to be raining somewhere nearby. I think we've seen more rainbows in the past three weeks than we've seen in the previous three years.

I already posted about an unexpected rainbow gracing nearby Arthur's Seat. On our recent trip to the Highlands, we averaged (with absolutely no exaggeration whatsoever) one rainbow per day.


Here's a rainbow welcoming us to our B&B in Inverness.


Another kicking off our Skye tour (this one's a little harder to see, but it's a complete arc--pretty cool).And a third, perhaps the most impressive, viewed across the Cromarty Firth on our little loop around the Black Isle.

What a Pretty Evening in Edinburgh Looks Like . . .

. . . if you happen to be out strolling along the edge of Holyrood Park. When the sun's shining, this town is definitely among the more beautiful places I've ever seen.

 

Here's a view looking towards Arthur's Seat from the trailhead.

Those are the Salisbury Crags on the left there.

Note the convenient rainbow.

The same view now, with the foreground much improved.

Looking across at a western edge of the Salisbury Crags,

with a tiny sliver of the Firth of Forth in the distance.

A Brief Word on the Climate of Edinburgh

You know you're in for some interesting weather when your guidebook (The Locals' Guide to Edinburgh, £8.99 on Amazon UK, but frequently pops up for less in the secondhand shop) lists a half-dozen local terms for rain. Even in August, Edinburgh is certainly cool compared to our past haunts, though so far it hasn't been nearly as soggy as we'd been led to expect.

The truth is, it has rained every day since we've been here--but only once has it rained for more than an hour total out of the day. Instead, a typical day has included an hour or two of bright sun, an hour or two of mixed clouds, and the rest overcast, punctuated by maybe one or two ten-minute drizzles, three five-minute spits, and one hard fifteen-minute shower, usually staring about five minutes after you've stepped out the door. Today, we've had all of those except the shower, which I'm expecting in about ten minutes, just in time for the walk home from the library.

I make it sound worse than it is--it's simply a matter of never leaving home without a raincoat or an umbrella, and for those couple hours of sunshine a day we've been getting, the sky has been a breathtaking blue. Just consider this a word of warning to any potential visitors: pack accordingly!

Looking out over Bruntsfield Links, at the southwest corner of the Meadows.

 

Basically the same shot, a hundred yards and a thirty-second drizzle further down.