It can’t be just me that gets a little jolt of excitement when I realise that summer is on its way. The flowers are out, the days are getting longer, and all signs are pointing towards summer fun! But you may ask dear readers, “Jess! How on earth will we know if summer is really here?” Don’t worry my friends, for I am here to point out the clear signs of summer!
1. Lancaster becomes almost bearably warm
I mean, we still live in Lancaster, so we can’t get too excited about the temperature, but there are occasional flashes of a strange glowing yellow orb in the sky. What could this mean? Well, excitingly it’s going to get warmer and warmer until it’s genuinely shorts season! Which brings me onto my next point…
2. Shorts come out
There are still hardy people that manage to wear shorts all year round (I salute you and your commitment to a breeze around your shins) but for the rest of us it will be warm enough to brave a bit of bare leg. I can even get the odd summer skirt out! Who doesn’t love a bit of summer fashion?
3. Festival buzz starts happening
I’m not actually going to any festivals this year due to a chronic case of being old and boring but that doesn’t mean I can’t get excited about festival line-ups being announced. Whether you’re more of a traditional Glastonbury type, a hard-core Sonisphere goer, or you prefer more independent festivals, there’s something for everyone to get enthusiastic about!
4. Hay fever
One of the not so pleasant ones – sadly the onslaught of pretty flowers means pollen, pollen, pollen! Apologies to all those who suffer from this affliction. I am a smug non-sufferer, but my entire family starts dosing up the moment the first tree starts blossoming, and it only gets worse from there. Summer means antihistamines!
5. Wallings ice cream on campus starts getting mobbed
A staple of Lancaster campus life, the second the sun comes out there’s a queue around Alexandra square, ready for the delicious taste of Wallings ice cream. I am a nut and go there all year round (ice cream makes you warmer in winter. Honest), but for the uninitiated, Wallings is the place to be once it starts warming up. It also becomes more acceptable for me to eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
6. Summer blockbuster season
Ahhhhh my favourite cinema season, and there is a plethora of blockbuster goodness hitting the screens this summer, with everything from wisecracking raccoons to gigantic rampaging lizards! We’ve already started off with Captain America 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and there’s more to come – I’m especially looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: Days of Future Past, although the new Godzilla looks like it will be unmissable!
7. Summer holiday plans
Before exams happen, standard revision procrastination is always planning that amazing summer trip – something to distract you during the monotony of equations, dates, and essay structures, and something to look forward to once it’s all over. I myself am attempting to plan a little something, but there’s so much choice, and so many places that I want to go. At least it will give me something to do instead of maths!
8. Barbecues
Ahhh the delicious smell of lightly grilled/burnt meat (or vegetables, if you are of that persuasion), there is nothing like a good ol’ British barbecue. Normally done in the cold and the rain, with a bit of perseverance and a pint in hand, our insistence that it is barbecue weather is one of the peculiarities of our nationality.
9. Wildly inappropriate footwear
“It is summer therefore flip-flops are fine.” No, no, my friend, flip-flops are wonderful inventions but they are really not very practical for walking around in all day, especially when it inevitably starts raining. Same goes for normal pumps, although maybe it’s just me that ruins at least one pair a year by being overly optimistic about the day’s weather…
So, there you have it, sure signs that summer is on its way! I for one am incredibly excited, and I hope you are too!
