The winter
on Tina's Journal (China), 30/Jan/2012 11:28, 34 days ago
January and February are the coldest two months in Sardinia. Living near the sea also increases the humidity levels which makes it feel colder than what you expect it to be from the actual temperature. Having said that, on a sunny day during this period it can feel like spring and when I go running on those days it's more comfortable to be in shorts and T-shirt as the sun rays feel very warm. The house inside can often feel colder than outside. The country houses here don't often have central heating. Many people have a wood fire in the main room of their abode (the kitchen) and that's it. Some people also have air-conditioning units in one or two other rooms which can take the chill out of the air. Wooden pellet fires are becoming more and more popular now which can replace the traditional wooden fire. They're a fantastic invention, the pellets are compressed sawdust which feed automatically into the stove and burn away behind a sealed glass door.The heat is expelled through the vents and gives off a much more powerful heat then a traditional fire. Our pellet fire It's much cheaper to run too as a 15kg bag of pellets lasts about 3 days and costs about€5. We previously had a gas fire which costs triple that! Many people think that Sardinia doesn't get cold in the winter but it does, it's just that the season isn't a long one. From March it starts to change, the days are much warmer but the evenings are still cool until usually the beginning of May.I'm not mad about the winter, I prefer the warmer weather so I love it when spring arrives. Luckily I have enough teaching work during the winter to keep me busy. As I am freelance I have to get the work when I can. Businesses are still affected here by the financial crisis. I couldn't believe it the other day when I heard that 40% of Sardinian families are living below the poverty line. We are also seeing more and more protests. Our main road to Cagliari the SS195 was blocked by transport protesters the other day. Petrol is the highest I have ever seen it...I paid€1.73 a litre the other day and it looks like it's set to rise again! People are not happy and I think we'll be seeing more and more demonstrations and protests. Obviously that is how many feel it's the only way they can be heard. I personally believe we are going through a massive global transformation. The political and economic systems we have in place have never been sustainable. When people think we have had it good we have often only had it good at someone else's expense. Over 2 billion people have been living off less than $2 a day for years, global poverty has always been rife. We can only have more harmony on this planet once the mass of the world's population recognises that greed and accumulation of masses amount of wealth and even the desire for it is completely insane! Does it really bring inner joy and happiness? Not at all....but each of us on an individual level need to come to realise this and live our lives from what I call a deeper dimension,which is our true selves, not the conditioned level of our mental rhetoric!