WEEKS OF SUNSHINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27518, 12 October 1950, Page 6

WEEKS OF SUNSHINE

Fine Spring Weather In Dunedin Dunedin workers in offices, shops and factories are suffering from a seasonal complaint. If it were included in a medical text-book it might well be called “fine weather frustration.” For weeks and weeks the clear spring air and warm sunny days have cheered the hearts of those able to work out of doors, but have Monday to Friday, at least, irritated the people who toil within the confines of buildings, however pleasantly appointed. While rainstorms have swept Auckland, winds wailed in Wellington and frosts afflicted Christchurch the Dunedin climate has treated residents with the utmost consideration.

Far from being unwelcome events, rain showers have been looked upon as pleasant phenomena in recent months. Almost daily, gardeners have been gazing hopefully at the sky sometimes clear blue, sometimes a little threatening, but seldom productive of the moisture which they and their young plants crave. The taking of lunch to work has been a happier habit during the glorious spring weather which has been experienced in the city. Every day open spaces have been crowded during lunch hours with people, old and young, enjoying the sunshine. The reluctance with which some of the lunchers tear themselves away from Queen’s Gardens suggest an increase

in the usual number of late arrivals at offices for the afternoon’s work. Those workers who have chosen, or been obliged, to take their annual holidays early this season have had no reason to regret their choice or their obligation. Golf courses, tennis courts, the beaches, gardens and bowling greens, as well as the municipal baths, have been better patronised for the time of the year than ever before. The attitude of Dunedin residents, who are acquiring their summer coating of tan well in advance of the usual time, is that it can rain any time it likes now. Nothing can deprive them of the springtime feast of sunshine, flowers and unrivalled opportunities for leisure activities which they have enjoyed since August.