DIANE KNOX: Clocks changing seems to make folk happier overnight
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Spring has officially sprung – it’s my absolute favourite time of the year, whether in Scotland or Florida. Longer nights, Easter approaching, colours changing, daffodils sprouting, sheep… well, not so much in Jacksonville Beach but I immediately think of the wee baby lambs whenever we reach springtime.
Memories of lambing season in Strathconon where my grandparents used to live; my childhood was spent fully in the Highlands, and those are the moments that always come flooding back to me.
Our daylight savings time in the US kicked in a few weeks ago, and those light nights are something to celebrate. Our doggies love them too – more time to get outside and play!
However, the nights over here are nothing like those in the Highlands. Whenever I talk to someone who has visited Scotland in spring/summer, the first thing they recount is the fact it stays bright until late into the night, something that never happens over here. And it all begins this weekend.
As much as I love living in Florida, as soon as the seasons change I just want to fly home and enjoy the start of the “better” weather in the motherland. It’s like people become happier overnight, everything looks greener and prettier, there’s more to do and we want to be outside as much as we can be!
Last Sunday my neighbours fired up their grill and had an afternoon barbecue, something that obviously happens a lot over here. But the smell of burgers at 2pm brought me right back to my childhood in Inverness – as soon as that sun was in the sky and the temperatures picked up just enough at the weekend, we’d be packing up the car with food and disposable barbecues and heading out to Dores or Rosemarkie beach.
It was such a novelty, and a day trip you’d look forward to for weeks, even months. Call me crazy, but I’d swap Jacksonville Beach for Rosemarkie on a beautiful spring day. We’re not allowed disposable barbecues on our beach over here.
Jumping in the car and embarking on a Highland road trip was always one of the best ways to celebrate the good weather, and the fact it no longer got dark at 5pm. It didn’t even matter if you didn’t know where you’d end up, that was half the fun!
A picnic at Urquhart Castle, a day out in Aviemore, grabbing an ice cream in Nairn – all things I definitely took for granted when they were so easy to do.
Spring brings a real feeling of positivity and optimism, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than the Highlands of Scotland when the new season begins.
I really hope your weather is decent as you read this, and if not, at least you have it to look forward to. As much as I’ve been enjoying the four-hour time difference with my friends in Scotland over the past few weeks, remember your clocks “spring” forward on Sunday morning. So you may lose an hour of sleep, but just think of the evening barbecues you have coming your way.
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