Peter Rhodes on balmy weather, fighting dementia with music and how history is written by the winners
I woke to find the living room chilly but the temperature outside balmy. There is, as far as I know, no description for those days when it's warmer outside your house than in. Some years ago a reader coined the perfect word and I'm surprised it hasn't caught on: outclement.
Fascinating new research suggests that learning to play a musical instrument can ward off dementia. There may be something in this. Whenever I give a piano recital, people remember it for years.
However, I would advise you to choose a big, prominent musical instrument such as a tuba or double bass rather than anything too small. There is no point in becoming a virtuoso on the piccolo if you can't remember where you left it.
