Guest Post - The Seasons of London

(Today's guest post is by Stace, who you can read more from at her Blog here.  She has the most wonderful photos and stories of their time and travels in England and parts of Europe posted there.  You'll feel like you've taken a holiday just reading it - or, more likely really, you'll seriously want to go on holiday there!  Thank you, Stace!! :)

I love the Patches of Heaven blog and am a dedicated reader... so thanks to the awesome ladies at Patches of Heaven for the opportunity to guest post!

My husband and I lived in London for 3.5 years. Each year a bunch of friends would celebrate Thanksgiving together. After the amazing feast, we would each take it in turns around the table to say what we were thankful for. The first year my turn came, and I'm pretty sure I said that I was thankful for my husband... but then I remember saying that I was really thankful to have experienced real seasons. Growing up in Brisbane my whole life I had never seen snow. I had never experienced the leaves all changing colour and the trees losing their leaves. That first year in London experiencing the seasons was really special to me. There's something really magical about the changing of the seasons.

Summer

Summer in London is crazy short. You wait for it all year, and then feel that it never really came. But those few weeks of the year where it really heats up, where you can go outside without a cardigan and you find yourself 'dying' at 25 degrees...it's pretty exciting. The British really know how to enjoy good weather. The sun comes out, the temperature rises, and everyone goes outside to soak it up. The parks are packed, people sunbaking on the grass, everyone out walking. It's an incredible feeling. And with daylight savings, there are more 'bright' hours in the day to enjoy!

Autumn

Autumn comes a little too quickly. You've still been holding out for a longer Summer and all of a sudden the nights are cool and the leaves are changing colour. London parks are so gorgeous in Autumn. I loved walking through them and seeing all the leaves. Daylight savings ends and the clocks change back and the days start to seem shorter.

Winter

The first half of Winter in London is exciting. The temperatures drop, Christmas decorations are everywhere, Winter Wonderland Festival in Hyde Park starts, everyone's in coats and boots... I loved it! Every year we were there it snowed. I remember hanging out in our tiny apartment one Saturday in December, listening to Christmas carols, and the first snow of the year started falling. We sat there and watched it snow while listening to songs like Winter Wonderland and Let it Snow, let it Snow. Christmas carols took on a whole new meaning for me. It was so magical to listen to them while watching it snow. Christmas comes and goes... New Years comes and goes.. and then you're left with the second half of Winter. Everyone's heads are down... and everyone is just hanging out for Spring!

Spring

London in the Spring is so beautiful. Daylight savings kicks in...The flowers in the parks start to bloom, the temperature is warmer, the air is fresh, there are more blue skies, the squirrels are everywhere, people are smiling once again! :)

Thanksgiving has just passed and I didn't get a chance to celebrate it this year. But I often think of the seasons at Thanksgiving now and I'm so grateful for the beautiful world that we live in and how amazing the seasons come and go and bring such a different beauty with each.