You have to love this crazy little island, particularly in the spring. One moment it’s baking and you’re wondering why you put such a thick coat on before coming out. The next thing you know, it’s freezing and you’re very relieved that you have it on. I suppose for most people this wouldn’t be such an issue: most people are able to whip a jacket on or off with it barely interrupting their internal monologue. 

In my case, however, it becomes quite a major operation. For starters I would have to find a safe place to stop my chair. Then I would have to unclip my iPad and place it in a safe spot, before staggering to my feet and starting to take my coat off, trying not to knock my glasses off or fall over in the process. I would then have to somehow stuff the coat into my bag, before getting back into my powerchair and reattaching my iPad. For some reason, whenever I have to do something like this, trying to coordinate things while maintaining my balance always seems far more difficult than usual.

I’m not writing this to complain or bemoan my fate; it just seems odd that something so apparently minor for most people is so taxing for me. Of course, by the time my coat is off and in my bag, it will have invariably turned cold again and I would be longing to put it back on. That means I almost never take it off in the first place, but push on in the heat. I suppose it’s just part of life in the spring, as well as one of those little aspects of a life like mine which most people are probably unaware of, unless I articulate them here.