Is there anything better than putting on your shorts, sunglasses and vest, getting an ice cold beer/cider/wine and sitting in a beer garden with mates. That is what summers are for. During those long, cold, dark winter months, the thought of leaving the confines of your warm house to brave the biting wind and freezing rain is none too appealing. If you do attempt such a treacherous journey to the pub then you sit inside, in the warmth discussing the importance of trivial matters such as how your team did on the weekend or who got engaged with who that you went to school with years ago. The garden and the furniture out the back isn’t given a second thought, it just sits there, empty and unused, waiting for those summer months to return so it can be the hub of the place again. In the winter beer gardens just look drab and unwelcoming but the change when summer comes around is as dramatic a change as you are likely to see. From the dank, grey/brown colours of the winter, to the bright orange, yellow, red well pretty much every colour you could think of in the summer (people wear some funky stuff trying to be cool).
I have heard many a complaint that people get depressed in the winter, ‘it’s dark when I leave for work, and then dark when I come home, I don’t get to see any bloody daylight.’ Well that may be true, my suggestion is you get a job with a window and suck it up. After saying that, the winter months can be challenging. You just don’t seem to have as much energy or will to go out as you would if you looked outside and saw a beautifully, blue, cloudless sky. When I do go down the pub with the boys then I am normally met with people sitting around in big jumpers or jackets. Now I am not sure if you have noticed but winter clothes are very often made in darker colours. If people do suffer from the winter blues then why don’t you make more clothes for winter that make people happier like a nice royal blue, or a decent shade or yellow (not that mustard/wee colour that your top always seems to be the day after you have bought it). Whilst it is fun to be out and enjoyable to be with friends socialising the atmosphere isn’t as buoyant, there hardly ever is a pub that is busy.
Now we go back to my original point, the beer garden in the summer. You finish work, it’s still light outside – hooray (or maybe you have got that job with a window, well done), when you get home it is still warm and there is hours of sunlight remaining, there is one place that is more inviting than any other…THE BEER GARDEN. You go down there with your girlfriend/boyfriend/mates and I can almost guarantee you there will be a loud buzzing of 10s of different conversations going on at the same time between multiple people. You will struggle to find a seat but who cares, you can rest your drink on a wall and have a chat, the atmosphere is great, everyone is in a good mood and those weirdos that were the weird colours have gone all out, the scene is awash with colour. It is about as far as you can get from the dank brown and greys of the winter months. That is just the after work scenario, now we move it to the weekend especially a Sunday. Sundays are made for doing this. Going to the beer garden, getting a pub lunch and just relaxing with whoever you relax best with. You can have a meal that may or may not have been heated in a microwave and not have to worry about the dishes, win win!! You can have a beer/wine/cider and not have to worry about washing the glasses up, another win. You can enjoy the warmth of the sun and be out the house with people you love or sometimes like biggest win. There is nothing about that scenario that doesn’t sound great and make me smile, especially as I look out of my office building onto a glorious Sydney day.
Some of the beer gardens I have been to in Australia are truly stunning. You can sit there, basking in the sun, being a true Englishman and earning myself a great vest tan, whilst looking out at the soft, golden sand on the beach with the cooling blue water of the sea run until it meets the sky at the horizon. The backdrop is spectacular especially when I am with my girlfriend and the sun is setting, it can’t be beaten. So I say well done to the person that thought up the beer garden, well done indeed. I know that this is just a pipe dream for you in the northern hemisphere at the moment as we down here enjoy our summer but hey ho tough tits, yours will come soon enough. When it does mines a pint! That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something different. Laters
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