Remember how cold and wet it was in June?
And how much one longed for a bit of warmth to bask in?
Well ha ha ha.
We got it.
That's 114ยบ F.
In the shade.
Not so much basking weather,
as
lurking behind closed shutters
hanging wet towels at windows
freezing towels as compresses
and rediscovering the joys of Uno weather.
Because if you did venture out
it was so blindingly bright
and pulsatingly hot
that even being sensible in the shade
wasn't an option.
There was a lovely pool,
but only one sun umbrella.
Don't be deceived by that cloud.
It never even attempted to shield us from the sun.
The box moth was thriving though.
There were hideous clouds of them
being enjoyed misguidedly by the tourists
in lavender fields.
But these murals were unexpectedly lovely.
And being awake early one morning
I heard a roaring sound and to my astonishment
saw this -
Since returning to a land of wholly acceptable variants
on normal summer temperatures
I have been grateful for the ability to think, move around freely and sleep.
The grandchildren had meanwhile surely grown
more than a week's absence could have made possible.
One of them having clocked up his first year
in the blink of an eye.
