Hot and cold

First meeting of the winter season and last meeting on the three year Arts Council contract.  It has been a very interesting project to evaluate, though our work was more than a bit underfunded!  On the way out of the meeting we encountered a lady dressed in a red tee-shirt and Santa Claus hat.  I commented on how cool it was in the corridor, but she professed herself "sweltered".  Knowing where the conversation was likely go I prodded, somewhat mischievously, "Do you just feel the cold or..?"  "It's my age," she replied.  "How long have you been 'that age' ?" I asked. There then followed a thirty second conversation as we shared the lift. I discovered that she is 58 years old, is 6 years into the menopause, still too hot most of the time and sleeps badly because she throws off the duvet and her husband complains about the cold.  Only in Northern Ireland could you have such a direct yet off-the-cuff conversation with a total stranger about something so personal.  The lift bell went "ding" and we spilled out onto the ground floor and wished each other a Happy Christmas.  Hope she has a cool one!  Afterwards, I strolled round to Wallace Park to watch and photograph the ducks.  Also learned that two out of the three bids that we recently put in for research have been successful.  A busy 2020 lies ahead.