BLOG: It's Hot in Pleasanton for This Recent Transplant

It has been extremely hot and since moving here from San Francisco, I now worry about my lilly white skin — can it really get burned just by walking to the park for an hour? Oh yes it can. 

Even though I am responsible enough to paint my kid in sun block, I don’t understand why I don’t think to apply it to myself; maybe it’s like eating when you have a toddler. Tthe intentions are there but you always end up eating the scraps or foregoing anything other than the half of banana you deemed unfit for one’s child due to foreseeable constipation problems. 

Maybe it’s because I am a Brit and we don’t do sun, unless it’s a cheap flight away in the Costa Del Wherever during summer break. 

Then we migrate en masse with little clothing and lots of spends for the Brit bars we’ll be patronizing. Huddled up like sardines on the beach, smoking copious cigarettes. We take pride in getting burned; it’s a badge of honor and damn right daft upon reflection, but we are all guilty of it.

You see, we just don’t have hot weather, especially in Yorkshire; I’m surprised the sheep get sheared at all for fear of condemning the little bleaters to a life of knocked knees. 

It is Baltic most of the time. Old habits die hard and I need to start either wearing lots of clothing or slap on the sun block. Especially now that I am living in sunny Pleasanton! 

It is so colorful right now — have you noticed the roses are starting to show their pretty little faces? The ones adorning the gardens on Santa Rita Road a few blocks east of are beautiful.  By the way, what is that house all about?

The park we frequent most often is and the iris and roses are so pretty right now, so take time out to smell the roses, especially the lilac ones, as they are delicious. 

To enjoy the park without fear of finding used needles, empty beer bottles, human ‘droppings’ and gang graffiti is novel when you’ve lived in SF’s Mission district.  

I hope you appreciate how clean and well-looked-after this city is. However there seems to be lots of dog poop in the grass; I’ve only had a stroller wheel encounter so far and I am sure I will have lots to moan about when one of us steps in it. Could it be possum poo I wonder?

Talking of, how ugly are those critters?  If anyone can defend their albino rattiness, you’re crazy!  They are horrible, grotesque, have a super-sized rat’s tail and even though I have never seen a live one, my late-night flower watering has ceased due to me spotting a dead one last week and in response to me witnessing the increasingly large bites taken out of my veggie starter plants, I don’t think I will ever wear flip flops again!

Seems like my sunburn worries were rewarded with a tad of typically British rain mid-week, which was welcomed with a few days of splish-splashing in the puddles — it  suited my girl as Wellington boots seem to be super-glued to her feet these days (and so they should be for $40!).

Hooray for and s Monday toddler story time — you saved my life this week. How can a $7 entry fee get you so much fun under one roof? 

Don’t attempt the inflatable slide with a skirt on while someone’s granddad is spotting you though — seems to detract from the innocence of it all. 

Thanks for reading.

Glossary

Daft = stupid

Baltic  = freezing

Spotting  = seeing

Tad = bit

Wellington boots(wellys) = rain boots