THE TEASING RAIN

Lately, in the parched South West of England—where the grass resembles those little brown sprouts that grow from decomposing potatoes, and the leaves of certain trees look like shredded cardboard—I’ve found myself recalling Pagnol's classic novel Jean de Florette. Specifically, the scene in which the desperate hunchback protagonist (played by Gérard Depardieu in Claude Berri's 1986 film adaptation) prays fervently for rain to fall on his arid farmland.

Some of you may remember when that nearby storm unleashed a deluge over the distant hills of Provence near Florette's land, tantalisingly suggesting that salvation might soon reach his husk-like crops — but, tragically, it never did.

So, what with the sporadic and fleeting summer showers we’ve had in Gloucestershire recently, I’ve found the teasing specks of rain that occasionally land on our garden’s grass and flowers—only to be quickly dried off by the relentless heat of the sun—eerily reminiscent of that moment. Admittedly, I’m not reliant on the small and somewhat random produce that sporadically emerges from our plot—especially since there’s a Waitrose just down the road—but still, it’s made me reflect long and hard.

Between last year’s endless rain and this year’s relentless sun, it feels as though we’re falling prey to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s most dire and apocalyptic eco-prophecies. And, frankly, there’s nothing I hate more than the idea of the bacon-sarnie-scoffing “Ed Stone” being right about anything.

So, I’ve decided to bring out the heavyweights by playing Verdi’s overture to La Forza del Destino — with its central 'Destiny' theme used as a recurring motif in Jean-Claude Petit's film score for the movie adaptation of Jean de Florette.

Giuseppe Verdi, after all, was the Prospero of conjuring storms (musical ones, at least)—so here goes.