A quick reflection on 2018. It was a scorcher.
2018 – What a year it was
Reflecting on what has been is not normally the way we like to do things here at The Guide.
Generally we like to look forward and keep the people of West Cumbria informed on what’s coming up. We trawl the internet and make all the phone calls so you guys have everything you need right between the covers of this magazine.
However we’re going to make an exception today. With the year we’ve just had it wouldn’t be right to turn our back on 2018 just yet. Because this was the summer of eternal sunshine. There’s always going to be debate over which year was better and maybe 1976 was okay but for anyone under the age of 50 the summer of 2018 is going to be the one they all talk about years from now.
Sure we had our share of snow early on and to be honest about half way through spring I was beginning to wonder whether winter would ever depart. The bulbs refused to come out of the ground, the blossom trees hadn’t flowered and the usual signs of the changing seasons were non-existent.
Was the Great British summer even going to bother turning up?
We’d have a day of sunshine and everyone would make the usual comment about how we better enjoy it because the summer would be over tomorrow. It’s an old joke but it looked like it was shaping up to be true, until everything changed.
The sun came out, the temperature rose with it and it stayed like that for months. It wasn’t a couple of glorious days between the rain like we always have, it was an actual summer. It was like being on holiday….. but at home.
When your bank holidays are three days of glorious weather we didn’t need to go off overseas because we had the Costa Del Solway right here.
Back in May everyone’s favourite royal Prince Harry tied the knot to Meghan Markle and the nations spirits lifted. They soared even higher as a revamped and youthful English Football team stormed their way through the World Cup smashing records along the way. Gareth Southgate became the nations darling, The Three Lions was the soundtrack to the summer and nearly everyone truly believed that football was actually coming home. Croatia put an end to all that but the nation was bursting with pride.
Back at home it was too warm inside so we were all eating al fresco. If you wandered the streets in the evening the smell of cooking sausages filled your nostrils as it floated out of backyards. The nights were long, neighbours chatted over the back fence, families came together and we all enjoyed each others company. Everyone’s mood was lifted and people were smiling which was contagious.
Our beaches, rivers and lakes became something far more than just beautiful scenery or a very nice place to walk as we all took to the water to cool down. Day after day families spent time together as kids learnt to swim and beaming parents watched on with pride.
It was a glorious year and it really was worth mentioning as we rush into Christmas and the shortest day of the year. This will be one of those years that people speak of reverently 20 years from now as something special. Today’s teenagers will sagely nod and remind their kids they remember the great summer of 2018.
Life can be too busy sometimes as we navigate our way through the day to day tasks and then we have gurus telling us we have to live in the moment which is not always easy. Sometimes it helps to make a cup of tea, take a seat, scroll through those photos you’ve taken on your phone and look back on the year that was.
