Weathers
After Thomas Hardy
This is the weather my friends like, and so do I:
Sunny days with a breeze but warm enough for breakfast outdoors
Birds singing with the promise of a good day ahead
And the scents of herbs and hedge parsley float everywhere
Washing dries quickly on the line, and it’s good to spend time outside
In the garden or walking through fields or climbing in Snowdonia
With the wind in our faces and unusual places
But rain is good too: it waters the soil; it’s good for the complexion,
as my grandmother used to say; and when it hits the conservatory hard
and we are warm and dry inside, and the garden gets a good soak;
rainy walks in wellies with wet dogs and the rain on faces.
At sundown clouds in the sky are outlined in red and gold.
In winter, frosty mornings smell sharp, remind of schooldays.
The virgin snow makes everywhere pristine, at night it’s a mirror.
Snow brings back memories of sledging and throwing snowballs,
frost on the inside of windows, or outdoors, crisp grass and lacy trees,
the beauty of a frozen spider-web, delicate like crochet.
It isn’t Christmas unless there is a roaring fire to warm us.
This is the weather my friends dislike, and so I:
When it’s too hot for walking or cycling, and even to sleep at night;
a constant fight against dehydration, and with perspiration.
Rain and wind combining together, when storms destroy trees
that have lived for centuries, and we are indoors worrying about damage.
Thunder and lightning can be terrifying as they rumble and light up the sky.
Winter weather causes my hands to be cold, and paths to be slippy;
I shun the dark rainy days when the sun hides and night comes too early.
Every season brings weathers we like.
Group poem: Northwich Stroke Club 4 July 2017
Workshop and reading by Angela Topping
Northwich Stroke club meets regularly at Brio leisure centre and organises speakers and outings for people who have had strokes. Partners are welcome.
Angela Topping is available for themed readings with optional workshops for local charities, for a small fee.
Angela Topping 
A lovely evocative poem.
From, Maureen Weldon x
I really like the group poem, Angela. The weather is our national obsession, of course, but rarely can there have been twenty-seven lines on the subject so engagingly penned. I too delight in the rain and snow, except when soaked to the skin or stuck in a snowdrift! Yes indeed, “Every season brings weathers we like.”
Well done to all in producing such a lovely poem.
My very best,
Paul