Soft Weather

[Bharath Capelle]

Developedto optimize performance and comfort, this technical soft shell is made with highly waterproof and breathable 10K/10K fabric so it can take on active sports and perform equally as well in town. Elongated front zippered pockets with locking pulls double as air vents for enhanced breathability when open. 10,000MM fabric water protection rating, 10,000G/M2 fabric breathability rating, interior storm flap, chin guard, reverse coil locking zippers, binding at cuffs, open hem with locking drawcord. Princess seams, reflective Eddie Bauer logo on right hem. Made of 100% polyester knit shell bonded to a water-resistant laminated film insert and 100% polyester microfleece interior.

"A soft day" is a phrase you will hear frequently in Ireland. In the west of the country it is usually followed with a gracious salutation, of "thank God." These soft days occur regularly where Atlantic mists envelope the mountains along Ireland's rocky coastline.

A soft day is a description of the weather, and is probably very unique to the Emerald Isle. It is a day when the precipitation is a cross between mist and drizzle and is sometimes referred to as "mizzle".

The rain does not fall to the ground in heavy droplets, but seems to hover and linger in the air. Yet this rain is too heavy to be classified as mist, and it is not vaporous and rolling like fog. It only takes a few minutes outdoors on a soft day, to be soaking wet.

The English poet, Winifred M. Letts, spent quite some time in Ireland as a little girl. Her poem "A Soft Day, Thank God" describes these typical Irish days with magical words. In the first verse she says:

So for anyone planning a trip to Ireland this summer, don't forget to pack your rain gear. Not many tourists have the opportunity to spend the day in bed, tucked away from those Irish mists.

Thank you Maired, I love your posts you are a pure Irish Colleen, I learned The Daffodill in school as well and I still love it, and i learned the poem, up the airy mountain down the fairy glin, the name of it wont come to me now, ?, I had a lovely time in school in the late fifties early sixties, it was an old school with a big open coal fire and when 12.30 pm would come we would all put our bottles of tea in front of the fire to get hot, my tea used to be in a brown sauce bottle, you never tasted the likes of that tea it was gorgeous, our toilets were 4 little cubicles with a wooden seat and a hole in the middle of it, oh the lovely memories of my childhood, happy days and not a care in the world. ?

Mairead, you are right it was called the Fairies,I loved that poem as well, thats it, the little paragraph you wrote, I can still see it in my minds eye even though i was only about 8 or 9 years,I had a lovely happy childhood growing up, lovely sweet memories, I remember at Christmas my Mother would start filling the press in the room every week with tins of fruit, plum pudding , christmas cake, biscuits, jelly and dates, tea leaves, sugar, birds custard, semonila and tappocia and blamongue thats spelt wrong now, do you remember it was like all different coloured custards, there was lemon flavour, strawberry flavour, chocolate and butterscotch flavour, etc, she must have liked dates and they used to be all goey in the packet trying to get them out was hard, ha, people of that era couldnt afford every thing all together so got a bit every week for that special little press in the room it was like a little treasure trove to me when id sneak a peep. i still think of frog spawn when I think of tappocia ha,when im down the park and see frogspawn i think of my mothers tappocia im sure she used to tell me that, and of course her sweet rice I loved that, and sugar on top of bread and butter, real butter by the way no half measures there, and another favourite she used to give me was golden syrup on bread and butter and i still have all my teeth, ha,

Maureen - I remember tapioca, semolina and blancmange well. And I loved rice cooked in milk with some raisins thrown in. Just delicious! And golden syrup - I loved dropped scones with golden syrup in the batter. I must make some soon and put the recipe up on the blog. I think we both are reminiscing now.

All the best,

Mairad

Angela - I had a lovely childhood in Ireland. There are many books about miserable Irish childhoods, but my experience was very different. I like to remember and share the happiness I experienced growing up there.

All the best,

Mairad

After reading your description of a soft day I now know what to call those days that I experienced in Seattle. The the weather was exactly as you described a Mist in the air that was wet but not droplets big enough to call rain so now I can call it a soft day thank you for your help

This is a wonderful post. I like it a lot. What I'm about to say may be going a bit astray, but can there be such a thing as "hard wet rain"? Your "wet rain" reminds me of the opening of Chandler's Big Sleep: "a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills". And it made me wonder.

Hi Sam - In Ireland you'll find every kind of rain, including what you call "hard, wet rain." Irish people often describe sideways rain, dancing rain, and swirling rain. On the western coastline the winds of the Atlantic ocean carry rain on shore in blustery squalls. I remember learning a poem in school in Ireland, describing this phenomenon. It went like this:

"Oh rough and rude Atlantic, the thunderous, the wide,

Whose kiss is like a soldier's kiss which will not be denied!"

from The Irish at Fontenoy, 1745 by Emily Lawless

All the best,

Mairad

The interesting thing is that it happens when it is hot. What does the fluid look like? Is it very dark in color? It could be that the fluid has a high water content which might explain the soft pedal when it gets hot.

The hotter the days, less heat is able to escape from under the hood. This excess heat heats up the master cylinder. As the master cylinder heats up, it causes the internal bore to expand slightly. If the cup seal inside the bore is marginal in wear, as the bore expands from the heat the seal starts to allow the brake fluid to by-pass it. And this is what causes the brake pedal to become soft.

Have someone pump the brake pedal, and then hold the pedal down. Now crack open both line fittings at the same time to bleed out as much air as possible. Retighten the fittings before the brake pedal is allowed to come back up. Repeat this a couple of times.

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Tanya Lukin Linklater: Inner blades of grass (soft) inner blades of grass (cured) inner blades of grass (bruised by the weather) is organized by Kelly Kivland, former head of exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts and director and lead curator at Michigan Central, with support from Curatorial Assistant Jonathan Gonzalez.

I need a new jacket, but I’m not a big fan of bulky hardshells or anything too puffy, such as down jackets. Would a fleece or a soft shell jacket keep me warm enough in Colorado’s winter? Do you have any suggestions? Rachel Colorado Springs, Colorado

The trouble with fleece is that by itself it usually isnt all that warmat least, not when worn as the primary insulating piece in cold weather. Most soft shells are aimed at the high-aerobic market, although there are exceptions which I will get to momentarily. One possibility is to get a three-in-one jacket, a piece that has a fleece liner that can be worn alone when its mild and dry, a shell that can be worn alone when its mild and wet, or you wear them together in cold weather. L.L. Bean makes a nice piece along these lines called the Weather Challenger Jacket ($159; llbean.com). It has a wind-blocking fleece inner jacket, with a water-proof breathable shell that uses Beans light 2.5-layer membrane material. Its really quite snug; over a sweater, and with gloves and a hat (it has a hood), you should be fine in Colorado.

On the soft shell front, Mountain Hardwears Womens Synchro ($185; mountainhardwear.com) comes with waterproof-breathable laminate bonded to a fleece liner. Plus its really quite nice-looking. Over another layer or so, I think youd be fine with it during Colorado winters.

The Blackfish Gale is a premium soft-shell pullover designed for ultimate warmth, comfort, and weather protection. With a soft fleece lining, this soft-shell hoodie is unlike any other outdoor garment. A long-nap soft thermal fleece inside, a zippered hand-warming Kangaroo pouch, and a weather-proof shell make the Gale Pullover a must-have hoodie for all seasons!

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