During the hot and stuffy night with the windows open you are exposed to a barrage of sounds. Depending on the night and the time of the night, the sounds vary. Weeknights it is more commonly the general sound of traffic, sirens and the faraway sound of a train horn coming into the station over a mile away. Any night you may benefit from the experience of a multitude of moped drivers fulfilling their fantasies of driving proper motorcycles. The distinct sound of an engine on helium is the glory of the moped driver. With the streets clearer of regular traffic these adolescents profit. Up and down and around the roads, those lined with homes seem to be the preferred choice as they’re out of the way of any proper vehicles.
Weekdays are also the exploit of the bin men (garbage men). Which council in which one lives determines what one can expect in regards to waste disposal and recycling. In our council, the following are collected by the bin men: glass, paper, glass, cardboard, glass, cans, glass, garden waste, glass, plastic, glass, styrofoam, glass, and food waste and glass. Our council has a well organised and managed system that starts early in the morning and comes every Tuesday. A video of how efficiently this process is achieved can be viewed below. This particular video was filmed at 6:30 in the morning, a time which one would not normally wish to wake.
British blood has two components, depending on the time of day; alcohol or tea. Before noon it is usually tea, but not always*. Weekend nights, in particular, alcohol dominates their veins. Pubs use to be obliged by law to close at 11PM. A bell would be rung denoting last call and there would be a mad dash to see how many more drinks could be consumed in those ten minutes. When the pubs shut all the cliental would be dumped on British streets. This had been the common practice for serval centuries. However the mayhem that ensued finally reached it’s threshold of tolerance and the government made the enlightened decision that a slow trickle of the inebriated was better for public health and safety. Pubs and bars can now stay open as long as they like. Previously the drunken hoards would all flood the streets at a set time and end approximately an hour after departure. With all the drunks comfortable passed out by midnight, allowing sleep for those unable to make it to the pub was possible.
Now with the new drinking laws hoards of folks returning from a night of revelry can go on indefinitely though out the night. Alcohol affects the hearing of the British profoundly forcing them to speak very loudly so their counterparts can hear them better. Jovial singing is also best accomplished and enjoyed at this time as all the concentrated inhibitions are liberated.
Another challenge to sleep is the British custom of a summer barbecue*. Being a nation that is primarily enclosed due to the weather, creates a widespread and chronic case of cabin fever. Thus when the weather is not complete and utter shite, the British go outdoors and stay there for as long as possible. Barbecues (as they call them though no barbecue is actually prepared, only the grilling of hamburgers and sausages) is the celebrated glory of the summer months. These events can start as early as 1PM and continue until the host ejects the guests or that they simply pass out on the lawn. When weather permits, in any typical neighbourhood on a weekend one can expect several of these barbecues being hosted by several neighbours. Fireworks are usually the climax of the evening, but can only be enjoyed once it’s properly dark. Dusk can be as late as 11pm in some parts of the country at the height of summer.
Once the barbecues have settled down and the sun has finally set the British street lights begin their nuclear orange glow. They achieve a contradictory duality. These lights prevent true darkness needed in order for the body to produce melatonin, yet they don’t provide any truly functional illumination. Walking soberly under these lights can cause disorientation. On clear nights stars are invisible and on cloudy nights orange light is reflected back down giving everything a Stanley Kubrick-esque eerie glow.
Murders on a nearby street is another common sound that one can expect to hear periodically in the middle of the night. The murders are apparently knife attacks as no gun shots are heard, only the last sounds of the screaming victim. No one seems bothered by these murders as the reassurance given is that the sounds were only a fox cry. Foxes are nocturnal and prevalent in the country side and suburban areas. Doubtful of these explanations I searched Youtube and found an example of an actual fox cry. Fox "Scream"
By 3:30 am the foxes and the drunks are generally silenced. That is when the sunrise starts, and depending on the position of the bedroom windows, can mean that the sun comes barreling in brilliant and bright by 4:30am. Black-out blinds may be purchased and fitted to the windows, but there is always a light leak. Thick curtains are also required which usually diffuse the light leakage making the curtains seem like a dim television screen. Peculiarly the sun is the sunniest in the early morning. Many days the sun shines for the first several hours only to be shielded by the clouds for the duration of the day.
Perhaps it is due to these challenges to summer sleeping that have created a nation of tea addicts, I can not say. I will say however, that for many months of the year summer is yearned for, yet once hear is either sadly annoying or a disappointment.
*Topics for another blog entry
