Wales trip, pumpkin cold brews

Hello folks, it seems I’m going back to the record lows of the frequency of my posting on this website! What can I say? I’ve been pretty busy, having started my first school placement on September 26th and making the most of the remaining summer weather in the meantime. Now that summer’s officially ended and I’ve had my first PSL (and a second, and a third – though actually it was the offshoot of a PSL, called ‘Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew’, bought by me twice at service stations somewhere between Brighton and North Wales – one in Telford, Shropshire, and one in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire), it’s slightly cold and as I caught a cold in Wales I haven’t been to the beach in a few weeks. I know, it sucks. I can’t wait for a day when the sea is flat and it’s not too cold so that I can go swimming in water without chlorine again.

Re Wales, yes, I went to Wales a week ago for four days – first time in Wales in over four years – for a field trip with the rest of teacher trainees on my course. We went to some postglacial environments and a river and it was windy and cloudy on the second day but sunny and not too windy on the first day. But on Monday I woke up with difficulty and a blocked nose, so I suffered through the day, though obediently consuming my tuna sandwich and fruit and coffee I prepared for the road. It was a relief to be back in the South as it’s a lot warmer here and I missed seeing palms outside my window and at random moments walking through the town. No palms in Wales, unfortunately.

When planning my trips to Brighton beach, the live webcam of the Palace Pier has been indispensable. I can read all the info on wind speed and direction but having a look at the live footage lets me see what the waves are actually like – are they too big, or is the sea flat? But even then I can be mistaken – last time I wanted to go for a swim, I went to the beach not long before sunset but the waves were so intense I thought not only that it wasn’t exactly safe to be swimming on my own off a deserted beach, but also that people who saw me would think I’m bonkers and potentially harass me because of that, so unfortunately I had to walk all the way back home in my dry swimsuit.

Autumn is my favourite season because of how wonderful it is when you can feel the chill of the wind (but not too strong a wind!) on your face when wrapped up in a cosy scarf and an autumn coat, observe the beautiful fall colours, and experience both amazing low-hanging sun light and rain outside when you’re inside and just getting on with work or reading or playing games or whatever. I hope there’s some autumn fans out there, too (for the less basic reasons than PSL, to be fair it’s definitely not my favourite flavour, for example banana or mint iced coffee beat everything else). Stay cool but warm folks!