Commits and Delivers

When you live in the UK, but even more when you live in Scotland, the weather is going to be an intrinsic part of your daily life. Like it or not.

Everything revolves around it. And people talk and complain about it a lot; probably more than they do about the economy.

Yes, there are days that are far from great, and yes, there are days when it rains a lot, and yes, there are days that are grey, and yes, there are days that are cold, and yes, of course, there are days when all that happens at the same time.

But when the sun comes out, the city transforms.

When the sun is out, the city comes to life. Everyone is, wants to be or attempts to go outside. You can walk around bars at 2 pm full of people drinking while sitting outside, always making me wonder if they just stopped working, they never got back after lunch, or simply decided not to go to work at all. And of course, everyone wants to sit outside.

However, after more than a decade of witnessing this collective experience, there are a couple of things that still, to this day, get my attention, appreciation, and at times, surprise me.

The first one, the sky. I noticed it when I first arrived here, and it remains one of my favourite things about sunny days in Glasgow: when it finally decides to be sunny, all clouds step aside, and all we get is a clear, deep-blue sky. It’s wonderful. When it's sun-time, Glasgow commits. And it delivers.

The second, I love how people make the effort to be outside, no matter what. It becomes urgent, almost a necessity. Borderline FOMO (fear of missing out), completely fueled by Mother Nature's UV light scarcity.

Parks full of people lying on the grass, reading, chatting, tanning, or even just scrolling on their phone, with friends or alone. Barbecues. People running. Families cycling. Everyone is going to or coming from the park. And ice cream, everyone immediately wants ice cream.

No one wants to miss it. Everyone wants to be outside. Everyone wants a piece of it, and when you get it, it's totally worth it.