21 April 2017

British Springtime

I have never seen as much flowers during the spring as I have here in Telford. Whilst living in Missouri, springtime did provide flowers, but I have never seen very many patches of wildflowers. Springtime in Missouri was hot and humid. Here, it never strays beyond 60 degrees Fahrenheit (I'm hoping someday I'll get accustomed to Centigrade) and the humidity is hardly noticeable (at least to me). Whenever I've gone outside, I've seen a LOT of large patches of yellow flowers - I think they're daffodils! The trees are blooming white and magenta flowers as well. Where I lived in Missouri, the most flower action I've seen were dandelions growing in the grass. Or maybe I'm just not that observant. Because right now I'm seeing all kinds of flowers popping up. Whatever the case, I love British springtime. Not just the sights but the smell as well. Nothing beats the smell of a fresh spring rain. One thing I will miss about Missouri springtime though is the thunderstorms - not the tornadoes, though. It doesn't storm much here, which sucks because I've always loved thunderstorms.


Anyway, going back to my Centigrade comment, I feel obliged to perhaps train myself to get out of the Fahrenheit mindset. And hopefully soon maybe even get into the metric mindset as well. I think what I will do, is post reference points. Both for myself and those who also want to train into Centigrade. It'll help for me to write them down anyway. So here they are:


0°C = 32°F (water freezes at these temperatures)

  • This past winter for me rarely dropped below freezing, so temperatures remained in the single digits in Celsius. Basically, if it's not below freezing but it's still cold, it's most likely in the single digits regarding Centigrade. (33°F to 48°F is the equivalent range)

10°C to 15°C is subtly warm at 50°F to 59°F
16°C to 21°C this is a considered hot summer to the Brits, but is just about the standard room temperature of 60-69°F

  • Any outside temperature past 22°C is not very common, but I have experienced the UK at 80°F before (roughly 27°C)
37°C = 98.6°F (average body temperature)
  • A temperature exceeding 38°C is a fever


I really need to make the switch to Celsius...but it'll be really confusing for me to see a 12° instead of a 53°. I need to make the switch to metric as well. Although to be fair I haven't necessarily needed it yet. 



But...on the other hand, I feel like my biggest priority regarding switching right now is remembering to look the right ways when crossing the street!!