Paradise lost? [Scanned]

I went on in the last post about living in a wonderful place.  And I do.   I would like to point out, however, that where I grew up is wonderful too and although it’s not a lot of people’s idea of paradise that’s because they have no idea what they’re missing.  It’s got more variety than the tropics do.  Sure it’s hot here, occasionally cooling down to warm but the seasons just don’t happen and that’s a crying shame in itself.   How can you not love bluebells in a wood in spring and daffodils over every roadside?  Watching the bare hedges and trees bud and bloom with early spring flowers and leaves?  Watching the hills rise out of the mist like out of some enchanted sea first thing in the morning? An avenue of trees covered in cherry blossom?   Those warm summer days where it’s just perfect to sit outside with friends and family in a pub garden with a beer or a gin and tonic and smell the honeysuckle?  Proper beer?  Proper pubs (they just aren’t right here)?   Kicking up piles of dead leaves in autumn?   Or how about wrapping up in gloves and a scarf against the wind?  Snow covering everything on a crisp winter’s day?  Sledging?  Sitting in front of a warm fire safe in the knowledge that it’s bloody miserable outside?   If I could have all those things and more, with the palm trees and the heat just occasionally, I really would be in paradise.