The moral of my tale? You need to stay up the night to - really, properly - enjoy the very real highlights of Dunedin weather, as the maximum might come first, the minimum duly arrive in its own good time: i.e. much later. Applying good 'ole counter-intuitive southern logic in other words. To usefully adapt an ad company's pet refrain,"Don't leave home (i.e. New Zealand) till you've seen the country": when in "these here parts", i.e. Dunedin, don't prematurely judge the allegedly inclement weather until you've truly given it a fair go - by experiencing all (and every hour) of it you possibly can. If you 'sleep it off' you might actually do so in fact to the chilling of your bones and the further impugning of your city's already unduly-maligned reputation. It really ain't as bad as you've been told - or you've told yourself. And though forgoing the restorative benefits of a well-earned bit of shut-eye is clearly too high a sum to fork out (just) to uncover that truth for you(rself) and yours, occasionally utilizing those (in some cases) frequent nightly 'up-risings' for a superior purpose - such as observing and noting the nightly heat-waves our fair city is not infrequently subject to - is all that is required. And, trust me, you'll be handsomely rewarded for so doing - and then some.
Of course there are also more mundane, practical considerations which may come into play, such as saving oneself an otherwise whopping, humungous winter power bill, as well as maintaining an ever-ready wardrobe of clean, dry clothes. How so? In the latter scenario by getting 'em out super early, preferably prior to sunset, and certainly not waiting till sunrise. In the former instance 'simply' by adjusting one's lifestyle to make best, maximal use of the natural heating available for one's home and especially well-used rooms.
But I hear you countering by raising the following types of objections, each one in itself seemingly plausible.
"Is it really such a big deal?" "Honestly! Surely there are weightier matters to get one's pantyhose - or longjohns - in a right lather over; to get one's sizeable molars or dentures stuck firmly into?" Does it really matter how your hometown is portrayed, night after night, weatherwise, on the nation's tv screens? And if they're inaccurate to a fault, what real difference - to our everyday lives - does it actually make anyway?
Will it turn potential tourists away? Sink Dunedin's economy? Implode its population, sending them scattering helter-skelter, here, there and everywhere, like so many ten-pin bowling skittles? And even if it does play a not insignificant role in such an unlikely, far-fetched, 'doomsday' scenario, well, what then? Who - in the final analysis - really gives a toss anyhow? Like really?
I'll leave you to decide that question for yourself, with this (bit of) food for thought: such may well seem perfectly useless, meaningless tidbits of statistical information - on their own. Except for this undeniable fact: people conduct their lives, engaging in all manner of important if routine daily and/or weekly activities - outings, (decisions upon) modes of travel and dress, clotheswashing and drying routines - purely upon the basis of such mundane sorts of considerations, not to mention make much more important life decisions, such as where to be based, work, establish oneself, bring up one's family, etcetera.
I s'pose that's all, folks - except to add: what - all the foregoing - also means, or at the least strongly seems to indicate, is a rather uncanny, if I do say so myself, ability - admittedly based solely upon frequent, regular and anecdotal observations over a number of years, even decades - for Yours Truly to exercise a rather eerily accurate predictive ability vis-a-vis the ongoing weather of the city of my upbringing. A 'knack', if you will - or won't! - characterized by somewhat closer-to-reality forecasts of upcoming local weather attractions than are those of the supposed experts with all of their fancy, much-vaunted, hi-tech, state-of-the-art, 21st Century equipment.
So "eat your heart out, Ken Ring" - I'm nipping at your (southernmost) heels!
END of PART TWO
Apparently my brother - so I'm told - followed my advice, vis-a-vis the outright efficacy of overnight clothes drying...and well he should have. For on that particular night, instead of our temp. dropping from 8-and-a-half late in the day to the predicted 4/5/6 degrees (or thereabouts), it'd risen to 9 degrees by 9 p.m., and 10-and-a-half by 1.45 p.m....indeed, later on that 'night' (do I have a frequent uprising problem or what!) it was a balmy 12 degrees with light breeze... .
ReplyDeleteLong may he be rewarded in following his bro's advice!...but who's counting/keeping score...?
As C.J once said: "I didn't get where I am today by not following my brother's good advice!"
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