When will the sun go down??

We are into the shortest nights of the year. It doesn't feel quite as bright as the years in even more northerly Aberdeen, but it is still very light out.

This morning though, the question was, "When will the sun come out??" It was the nursery fun day, in celebration of both summer and the 50th anniversary of the nursery, but it pissed it down all morning. Luckily though, it turned into a gorgeous afternoon for bouncy castles, face painting, merry-go-rounds and barbecues.

Now for an ecological, ethical question:

Aren't helium balloon launches a bad idea? The nursery launched 50 gold balloons into the air. And, sometime this week, in support of the little girl who's gone missing in Portugal, 50000 balloons will be launched all over Scotland and who knows where else. I don't want to be a big party pooper, or seem like I don't care about a missing child, and it is visually very impressive to watch all the balloons sail into the air, BUT. Won't they end up in rivers and strangling moorhens and twisted in trees? Why do I bother with recycling and refuse to litter if I then scatter balloon trash all around the place?

Sharon