As some of you may know, we live north of the arctic circle. I was telling my kids about the snow in London, and asked them if they remembered the last time it snowed in London.
My oldest son said:
"I hate this country. It is summer all year round"
Looking out of the window, I see snow capped peaks, ice on the fjord, a pale blue winter sky. The thermometer on my car says -6.
So I say, "Summer, how can it be summer? It is freezing cold here! You are wearing winter clothes!"
And he says "Who cares about the cold, there is no SNOW here, which means it is summer. And you do wear winter clothes here in summer too, at least by London standards"
Fair enough.
So we get into town, and we leave the car. He pipes up:
"Look mum, I told you it is summer, there is no ice and no snow on the road." It wasnt. I point to the ice under our feet. He bites his lips, and points to the pavement on the other side. No ice. (under pavement heating)
We get to the city square, and I show him the outdoors ICE cinema. The cinemascreen was a big block of compacted snow. The seats were compacted blocks of snow. An igloo for refreshments, snow sculptures and snow slides.
He was still not convinced it is winter.
ah well.
So how do you know it is winter when you can have the same temperature on a cold summers day as you have on a warm winter day?