Brrr ... hot casseroles for the despondent?

As I mentioned in some posts recently, I spent a few days in the central west of the state last week.

The weather, on the whole, was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G. At an 8am meeting at Lithgow on the Tuesday, the puddles were still frozen and the temperature was reading -2°C.

My client asked where I was off to next, and when I said, 'Blayney', he came back, 'Blayney's [insert adjective] cold!' (My contact in Blayney said they see the mercury plummet as low as -11°C, and I guess that's cold.)

Snow began to fall as I left Orange on Thursday in the mid-morning, and the threatening sky in the photo above urged me homewards as I left Mudgee later that afternoon.

Today, back in western Sydney, the weather ranged from almost springtime to super-chilly with wind-driven rain. Bottom line: the chill of winter has really hit. No more shorts and tee-shirts.

So much of our human existence is dictated to by the weather.

Warm weather welcomes us out of our houses, calling us to the beaches and parks. Super hot weather and humidity sends us under the air conditioner, and sends some people mad (ask anyone who's lived in Darwin). Cold, wet weather drives us indoors to gather around hot chocolate, hot casseroles and board games.

We often refer to ourselves as 'summer people' or 'winter people'. It's amazing that even with all the advances of technology, we still can't defy the weather. Even if we manage to find ways of playing with the temperature (through clothing, heating etc.) we still can't deny the way weather affects our outlook, even our mood.

If you're a summer person, how are you coping with the weather we're having? How do you keep your chin up during the chilly months?