Every time I visit this country another layer of rose tint is removed from my spectacles. This time it's weather.
I got up at 4.30, this morning and left for work at about 5.30. The hotel I'm staying in is further away than before and the walk takes about half an hour. That's fine. I like walking.
As I left my room and walked to the exit, I noticed that the paths between the buildings were wet and thought that it was very sensible to turn on the sprinklers late at night, rather than run them during daylight hours. By the time I'd walked 150 yards I realised that the sprinklers hadn't been running because there was a thin drizzle. It had got quite a bit heavier before I'd walked a quarter of a mile.
Shortly afterwards I saw a large pool of water in the gutter at the side of the road. I had the great fortune to be walking past it at the same time as a huge 4x4 ploughed through it and soaked my right side. And then I carried on walking the rest of the way. I was thoroughly wet by the time I walked into the office.
It turns out that I spent 22 hours traveling, yesterday and I brought northern Europe's penetrating drizzle with me. And it looks like it's staying for the rest of the week.