Heat and ideas of weather.

We have had a series of hot days in the mid 30s and I feel a little like this sun flower - stooped and past my prime.

Unlike Brisbane where the heat is often relentless at this time of the year we have been getting cool nights with the mist coming with a cool change at 6 or 7pm.

I've also been thinking a lot about my reaction to the weather since my visit to Brisbane last week. I was reminded of the 1974 floods when I lived there. So often weather conditions, like smells, do bring back memories.

My ideas about weather have been challenged in the last few weeks when there have been floods and storms in Qld, NSW and Vic, high temperatures and bushfires in WA and rough weather off the coast resulting in deaths when freak waves swept people out to sea in southern NSW. I haven't been affected by any of these events but I no longer feel that I 'know' the weather.

Blue skies

I'm not sure that I've been listening more intently this last week or just that constant comments on the weather from many people and conversations has accumulated in my mind. After a week of sunshine, warm to hot days, some with out a cloud in the sky; I've noticed two view points in conversation. The majority of comments have been along the lines of ....'Thank goodness for the sunshine, I'll take this heat any day over the rain, we don't want any more rain'.... a smaller proportion of comments have lamented the return of heat with clear sunny days. This week it would seem conversation about weather is not just the stuff of passing comment or a polite word between strangers; it's become a topic of genuine merit.

This got me thinking about what we wish for in weather, what is the perfect day? 24 degrees? sunshine? Perhaps a light shower over night and cool air for sleeping? What would it be like if every day was the same? Without seasons, what would our food be like? plants? clothes? Variation is at the heart of life, and although we would all like to live without the extremes of recent events, I can only imagine monotony without the daily changes. Change is one of the ultimate certainties in life, as long as the earth keeps spinning.

Canberra skies in summer

A weekend in Canberra with sunny blue skies during the day and late afternoon clouds. Some rumbling sounds and overnight rain brought more blue skies the next morning. I visited the National Art Gallery on Sunday and took these two images, unintentionally capturing the sky within and without a circle. Within just before entering the gallery, and without on exit a few hours later.

Afternoon Clouds

Rolling clouds and distant thunder remind me of summer weather in Brisbane where first semester back at school meant taking off your shoes and wading home through puddles left by the 3 pm storms. We have had thunder for the last three afternoons but no rain.

I have been enjoying the warm days but as you can see from the forecast above we are in for some hot days.

Heat haze

Sunshine and blue skies have returned to South-east Queensland with accompanying humidity and temperatures in the low 30's. I still haven't emptied the overflowing rain guage, and my weedmat of choice in the vegie paths is currently cardboard (less likely to wash away). That appearance of 'mist' in the hills is heat haze and probably evaporation lit by late afternoon sunshine. Still it's a welcome change from constant rain.

Rolling Mist

The mist rolls in to the accompanying drone of the neighbour's lawn mower.

Changing conditions.

This morning we woke to clear blue skies and a warm humid day in the mid 20s. I went out into the garden to take some photos and discovered that my battery was flat.

It is now 2:30pm and I looked up from my work to find the mist rolling in. The temperature has dropped to the mid teens and it looks like we will have a cool evening. These sudden changes are typical of the summer climate in the highlands.