RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY

I’m watching the skies, and no, I’m not wearing a tinfoil hat and watching The X-Files (this time, anyway). I’m waiting for rain. don’t live in Al Ain, where a big storm took place on Monday night, otherwise my need to see water falling from the sky would have been satisfied. A decade into Dubai life, and I find myself fascinated by anything that qualifies as weather – fog, hailstones; even a slight breeze is cause for celebration.

But it’s the torrents of rain and moody skies that I used to see in winter (especially Rugby Sevens weekend) that I miss the most. The streets of Jumeirah were a splashy playground, and I remember wading into knee-deep water in the street in front of our office to fish out my car one day. They installed storm drains, but then the storms didn’t come.

I’m British, so this nostalgic weather talk could go on for a while; I’ll wrap it up with the hope that as you read our hygge edition, there’s rain streaming down the windows and you gather close ones for a game of Trivial Pursuit, in pursuit of this Danish concept of peace and happiness. As you’ll find in the story on page 30 ,it doesn’t have to be miserable outside to practise hygge – there are many Danes in our midst doing it every day. They tell us what the concept, which has been taking over the world, means to them.

Lori Borgman isn’t far off the topic in this week’s column on page 15, as she tackles the lack of human conversation in modern life. I see where she’s coming from, especially children with devices, but I don’t think it’s that bad yet. A colleague and I had a long face-to-face chat about naps the other day, for example.

We’ve also got great new pages for you. Fashion editor Lindsay Judge will be bringing you the latest news in fashion and beauty every week in ‘The Details’. Lovers of shopping won’t want to miss it.

Don’t forget it’s Chinese New Year this weekend, as the Year of the Rooster is welcomed with feasts by billions of people. Why not tackle some dishes yourself? We’ve got a fun project starting on page 52: Cute, chocolate-dipped fortune cookies. The hardest part is coming up with the messages to put inside. I suggest a wish for rain.