冬日美景,末日年期待不一樣的新年?

Winter seldom comes as a relief. But after the spring hose pipe ban that led, perhaps inevitably, to a summer and autumn of deluge and flood, this winter is indeed most welcome.

冬天很少作爲一種安慰到來。但在春天軟管禁令導致或許不可避免地一場夏秋之季的泛濫和洪水之後，這個冬天確實是最受歡迎的。

More importantly, there are a great many fruit and berry-eating birds around this winter. This is not because they had a great breeding season here – they didn't – but because a multitude has come over here from Scandinavia, where an even lousier spring produced even less for them.

更重要的是，鳥兒在這個冬天有許多水果和漿果吃。這並不是因爲它們在這裏有一個重要的繁殖季——他們沒有——而是因爲許多是從斯堪的納維亞半島來到這裏，那裏差勁的春天給他們生產更少。

And what are the best features of December weather? First and foremost, are the sunsets. Cold clear days will end with a blood-drained sun retreating slowly into a silent night of gathering frost, while grey days end with just a tint of pink in a lead-grey sky. Best of all are the days of stillness and quiet, which we seldom experience in summer – the embalmed stillness of midwinter air is something deeply wonderful, the world of nature seems truly asleep and at peace with itself.

什麼是12月天氣的最好特徵？首先也是最重要的，是日落。隨着火紅色退去的太陽慢慢地隱退到有霧的寂靜之夜，清冷的日子將結束；而鉛灰色的天空冒出一絲粉紅色時灰色日子結束。最好的是那些巋然不動的寂靜日子，這是我們很少在夏天體驗到的——仲冬空氣中蘊含的沉靜是非常美妙的事情，大自然本身似乎真的睡着了並享受着和平。

Best of all, we have not had anything even remotely approximately to a summer since 2006. 2012 was a nightmare. We are seriously overdue. Surely, then, we can look forward to the new year with relish?

最重要的是，自從2006年以來我們沒有任何有一點點接近夏天的東西。2012年是一個噩夢。我們嚴重逾期了。當然，然後我們可以津津有味地期待新年嗎？