Sunshine.

Just like that the sun starts shining through the clouds and all seems well, better somehow. The warm rays soothe my aching bones, the air is filled with optimism, I feel like smiling and it feels good. Suddenly the world around me seems open and free, no longer trapped in the house, the garden cries out for attention and the streets glimmer invitingly. Everything does look attractive in the yellow swathes of light, the general grubbiness is highlighted and reflected and raises to pretty even.

I feel the vitamin D absorb into me and I feel alive, the greenery is greener than green, I breathe in its viridescence and the colour fills my lungs. Of course there are downfalls to this summery sun, The pollen count and skin damage, as an older woman I need to keep out of direct sunlight, like a gremlin, I say no to skin cancer and hope that my childhood through the seventies and eighties, when we all slathered ourselves in oil, if we used anything, wont haunt me. Pollen is the bane of my life, my allergies trigger in January and if I am lucky will settle somewhat by the summer. Everything just feels brighter, I feel happier, even my swelling, throbbing fingers can’t detract me from the joy.

Our cold old house is a blessing in the summer heat, its bricks seem as though made of ice, solid, freezing, in winter this is terrible but now in the warm its a neat trick cooling every intense heatwave down to comfortable.

Warmth seeps through the bones and this old body feels it like an internalised heat pad, everything is less creaky and achy so it is no wonder I prefer summer months. Its still hit and miss with sudden rain storms lashing down in between sunny periods, there is no way to know what’s coming when so I jump into the light when I get the chance. I am one of those people who strips down at the first signs of sun, if I see a beach or open water I have to resist the urge to wade on in. Just thinking about the summer ahead fills me with joy. Heatwaves are the new summer climate, I have learned to embrace the sweat rather than swelter from it, and I urge you to do the same, make the most of it while we have it, that icy rain is always hovering.

Enjoy the sun. Chris.xx