No it’s not about politics. We are going to be very boring and talk about the weather. If Facebook is anything to go by, Malta breathed a collective sigh of relief from the heat and sun yesterday.

The heat didn’t really kick in till early September this year, but when it did, it came with a vengeance. But that is nature, it has definitely gotten cooler and although we can probably expect some more hot weather before winter kicks in, summer does seem to be over, finally.

Every year, the media waits with dread for the silly season. Long days at a stretch where absolutely nothing happens, not a single statement or sniff of a story. In the hysteria of the heat, people inevitably do or say silly things, and the media is always ready to pounce. But this year, it was slightly different. Although there were days when nothing happened and journalists scratched their heads in attempting to come up with decent copy, there was Libya. After the long drawn out and bitter referendum campaign, Malta was in need of some time to peacefully reflect and reconncilliate, but it was not to be. We were thrust back into the mix when the Libyan revolution began to gather steam and warships and war planes made use of our facilities.

But as this same piece is being written, the clouds are dispersing and the sun has come back out again, so perhaps summer is not quite over yet. Certainly, 2011 seems to have been a rather unpleasant year for many. The government has been castigated repeatedly by the public for anything from the honoraria to the dreadful mess which was the public transport reform. Labour on the other hand, have had a pretty torrid time of late because although Joe Muscat’s popularity is still quite high, very damning and probing questions are being asked about the capabilities of the people in his team.

Malta has been tense since February, and when the Libyan uprising broke out, we then had to deal with the referendum and all that came with it. Europe and the United States were faced with war operations over the Mediterranean, just when we all needed to save as much money as possible in an effort to boost the economy and cut spending. But still, the sun is shining and it’s just that little bit cooler. Maybe these two weeks will be the real rest that Malta needs, without the stifling heat of the summer.