Our Summer Holidays

Ahhhhhhh, the summer holidays... that magic season when we traditionally go off to some idyllic destination to sample sea and sun and lazy days on the beach and renew our energies. What would we do and how would we cope if we did not have this yearly break from our labours, this annual excursion to sunnier and lovelier climes where for a few days we can live out our dreams and cast our cares away?

Taking it easy by the sea, hand in hand, exchanging wide-eyed glances, enjoying the moment as only a child can. For a moment life stands still and the ocean expanse fills one's being and gladdens one's soul. We were at the dawn of our lives and out there was a world waiting to be discovered all over again.

We were young and vigorous and full of the joy of life. We ran into the sea that late afternoon, kicking and splashing the water into a bubbly white foam around our legs. The warm water felt good on our skin as we threw ourselves into its soothing embrace and half swam half rolled around in one joyful happy-go-lucky group of friends.

We all partook of those eye-popping tecnicolour cocktails that one only indulges in when on holiday and on show. Their bright primary colours, exotic mix and decorative slices of fruit matched our exuberance and holiday spirits and we drank them down without thought to their effect on our body or our pocket. They were supercharged but so were we!

They were carefree holidays when sun and sea and fun and love merged into one whole to make a heady potion. Evening romps along the seashore where Nature conspired to sharpen our senses and heighten our delights. As the sun went down, it threw its dying but dazzling rays across a swelling sea and tinged the sand with gleaming flecks of gold. The sea surged around us, its tingling coolness lapping at our feet. They were summer days that promised much and made our spirits soar. We had youth, we had passion, we had time to lose, and we were happy.

But all too soon those balmy days were no more and summer's lease of sun and fun was quickly at an end. We came back to live on memories and hopes, though with the knowledge that there would be another summer and another summer fling.

And now, many years later and in the tightening grip of age, we look back on those heady days of youthful passion and irrepressible bravura and wish we could do it all over again if we but had youth on our side. We still go on summer holidays to foreign climes but they are not the ones where once we went and we no longer do what we once did. Summer holidays are still with us, but the days of carefree living in the sun and impetuous loving on sandy shore are long gone and will not return.

As the song says:

"♫ We had joy, ♫ we had fun, ♫ we had seasons in the sun, ♫ but the wine and the song, ♫ like the seasons, ♫ have all gone. ♫♫ We had joy, ♫ we had fun, ♫ we had seasons in the sun, ♫ but the stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach. ♫♫"

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....... those summer holidays.

The Ill-fated Ophelia

“There is a willow grows aslant the brook,

That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;

There with fantastic garlands did she come.

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples.

There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds

Clambering to hang an envious silver broke.

When down the weedy trophies and herself

Fell in the weeping brook”

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

This haunting depiction of Shakespeare's Ophelia is probably the best-known representation. She is shown singing before drowning in a river. It was painted by John Everett Millais in 1852 and is to be found in the Tate Britain gallery.

"My heart is heavy with this odious yearning and here below i'm called to forgetful surcease if i but dare to venture down into these tranquil waters."

A latter-day idealised, quase-magical image of Ophelia contemplating her reflection in the stream. A far cry from the well-known depiction of the sad figure of a drowning Ophelia.

This is Ophelia as depicted by John William Waterhouse and exhibited in 1910 at the Royal Academy. "Into the wood she crept as if seeking some mysterious solace that only death could now grant her."

This is another version of Ophelia by John William Waterhouse completed in 1910. As in all the other depictions of her, she's never shown in the same style of dress, although white, or shades of it, is the colour usually chosen.

Ophelia as seen by the French artist Alexandre Cabanel completed in 1883. It is now in a private collection and is probably one of the least known representations of Ophelia's last moments.

This painting, dating back to 1910, is by W. G. Simmonds and is entitled 'The Drowning of Ophelia'. Her billowing white robe is reminiscent of a white swan or a winged angel.

Ophelia is the epitome of the lovesick maiden who is driven by unrequited love to take her life. The above paintings depict her untimely end or her contemplation of the stream that will bring an end to her sorrow. This theme was taken up by the painters of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood again and again and the above depictions are just a few examples of this. In essence it is the eternal predicament of the 'Broken Heart'.

A Frosty Morning

It was a bitterly cold morning. The temperature had plummeted during the night and when morning came the countryside was a canvas of white frost, and an eerie silence reigned over the land. Neither man nor beast could be seen anywhere. But for all its harshness, it was an awesome landscape and a magical moment. It was as if time had stood still and Nature held its breath.

"I am the hoarfrost that covers the land.

White, sharp, hard and cold.

I have frozen the land across its length and breadth,

high and low, in meadow and on heath.

I have subdued all of nature, thrown a mantle of silence over it.

I am the frost that lingers and loiters with cruel intent,

that stiffens the grass and stills the brook.

I am the frost that makes you shiver, makes you shake.

I am the hoarfrost that blankets the land,

I am the cold white sand."

The Sayings of Buddha

"Se vc pensa que a melhor maneira de atingir o coraçao de um homem é pelo estômago, saiba que está mirando muito alto..."

"If you think the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, think again because you're looking too high..." *

*

"Crianças no banco dianteiro podem causar acidentes. Acidentes no banco traseiro podem causar crianças."

"Children on the front seat can lead to accidents. Accidents on the rear seat can lead to children."

*

*

"Viva cada dia como se fosse o ultimo. Um dia vc acerta."

"Live each day as if it were your last. One day it will be."

*

*

"Todas as pessoas inteligentes sao cheias de duvidas! (eu acho)"

"All intelligent people are full of doubts! (I think)"

*

*

"Mulheres sao como piscinas: O seu custo de manutençao é muito elevado se comparado ao tempo que passamos dentro delas."

"Women are like swimming-pools: The cost of their upkeep is very high compared to the time we spend in them."

*

*

"Ainda estou refletindo... daqui á pouco falo algo muito sabio..."

"I'm still reflecting... in a while I'll come up with something very wise..."

"Se tudo o que é bom dura pouco, eu ja deveria ter morrido há muito tempo!"

"If everything that's good lasts only a short time, I should've died long ago!" *

* "O seu futuro depende de seus sonhos. Nao perca tempo, vá dormir!"

"Your future depends on your dreams, so don't waste any time, go to bed!"

Well, there you have it, folks! Such wise sayings to live by. And we can't have enough of them, can we? Buddha certainly knew a thing or two, the old rogue! And no doubt those worry-beads he's twiddling in his sweaty little mitts must help him concentrate and inspire him. In fact, I'm thinking of getting some for myself !

(Based on a presentation by 'Humortadela.com.br'.)

Lighthouse under attack

The storm had been brewing all day and as dusk fell it came off the sea and struck land. It hurled the raging waters with full force against the rocky promontory, sending huge waves up the sides of the lighthouse that stood there, a lonely sentinel half way between land and sea.

The water swirling about its base frothed and raged and repeatedly slammed against the lighthouse’s sides, sending long foamy tentacles high into the air as though it sought to snuff the very eye of the lighthouse, the guiding beacon at its summit.

The roaring gale raged ceaselessly, smashing against the surrounding rocks and overrunning the coastal strip. Time after time it drove giant waves onto the land, engulfing everything in its path like a devouring pitiless behemoth.

As night fell the tempest showed no sign of abating. If anything, its fury was now even more terrible and its howling roar had grown deafening. In the midst of this raging maelstrom the lighthouse stood its ground whilst taking the full force of the storm.

Tall and proud the lighthouse stood, though battered by the storm.

No pounding wave nor beating wind could shake its firm resolve.

And there it stands as tall and proud as well it stood before its trial,

and bright its beacon burns to guide all ships that come in sight,

for proud the lighthouse stands, unbroken and defiant all the while.

The Fab Four - Beatlemania

The Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) -were four Liverpool lads, all from a poor background, who appeared on the scene at the beginning of the 1960s like a breath of fresh air to revolutionise the world of popular music and who won the hearts of millions of young people all over the world.

The Beatles in their heyday, clean-cut and besuited, wowing the public with their new brand of popular music and fresh-faced talent, and being acclaimed with the shouting and screaming of crowds of frenzied fans. They rocked the venues where they played and left their indelible mark on society. Rock on, guys, rock on! Our Fab Four doing what all good Englishmen do, taking tea, in proper china teacups from a beautiful teapot to match! All very civilised, all very English, all very... proper. This may be the one and only time they were snapped politely partaking of the traditional english beverage like good little boys. You wouldn't catch their rivals, the Rolling Stones, doing this, would you? The Boys in their bright and brash Sergeant Pepper outfits - pretty, aren't they? But Girls, would you have taken any one of them home to meet the parents? Be honest now.

The Beatles epitomised an era when barriers were coming down and taboos were being broken, when young people were freer than ever to do their 'thing' and had the cash to do it. Society was changing, the world was changing, and the Beatles were a motor for much of that change. Rightly or wrongly, young people (and not so young), copied and mimicked them, listening to their music and their pronouncements and believing that the world was changing for the better.

The Old Man by the Sea

The old man would shuffle down to the seafront most days and sit on a low parapet overlooking the beach, staring out to sea for hours on end, hardly stirring. He was always on his own and it was always in the afternoon, and he would often stay there until the sun began to dip below the horizon and the light to fade. He wore a broad-brimmed panama hat to shade him from the glare of the sun and he had a small bag with him containing food and drink to sustain him during his lonely vigil. He would sit there on the beach, watching the tide slowly coming in, the waves breaking on the shore, and the gulls cart-wheeling over the water.

Today was like any other day. The sun beat down relentlessly and the sea sparkled and heaved, driven by a strong wind. The rush and surge of the sea spoke directly to his inner soul and seemed to promise welcome release from the heavy burden of old age. It beckoned to him and its freshening spray turned to a fine mist on the arms of the breeze. The old man saw and felt all this and let out a deep sigh.

The salty sea breeze reached out to him and suddenly caught the sigh, as though snatching the breath of life from the old man, and blew it over the foamy waters.

The head of the old man slumped onto his chest and he rolled forward, falling on his side onto the sand with a dull thud. He stayed there unmoving and his hat slipped off his head and was propelled by the wind across the hot sand and into the feet of a group of boys playing ball nearby. One of them gathered it up and, recognising it as the old man’s hat, ran towards him, but then suddenly stopped short, and stared. The old man continued lying on his side in the sand, motionless and peaceful as though asleep.

The boy looked round at his playmates who were calling to him to get back to the game and the boy dropped the hat beside the old man and started running back, too afraid to nudge the lying figure. The old man’s hat was caught by the wind again and rolled across the beach and the breeze cast it into the sea where it bobbed about on the waves.

The old man did not stir and did not seem to care about anything. He was past caring now and at peace with the world. This day had brought welcome release and... had not been like any other day.

New Worlds

Planets, stars, galaxies, nebulas and supernovae are some of the bodies that populate the depths of space and that may harbour worlds unseen and unimagined by us with civilisations equal to or greater than our own. Perhaps we will find out one day and perhaps, more likely, we never will.

The likelihood is that we shall already have destroyed ourselves, if not the planet, with our constant depredations and rapacious exploitation of the Earth, and with sheer overpopulation by the human species and its consequent demands for resources that the planet will no longer be able to provide to the teeming billions of humans.

Perhaps our salvation lies in space travel, which might enable the human race to spread out across space, populating other planets and easing the pressure on the Earth, seeing as we are not doing very well at limiting the proliferation of humans on a naturally finite planet. But to achieve this, it will probably have to be on a galactic level, since we have already seen that no planet in our solar system other than the Earth can sustain human life. We shall have to journey much further afield than our humble corner of the universe, to distant star systems in search of worlds not inimical to human survival like our group of planets that are as hostile as can be to sentient life.

And talking of the Earth, here it is. The Blue Planet, as we have christened it. Our home in the vastness of Space and most likely the only habitable planet for many light-years' distance. Mostly covered in water, which we cannot drink, but teeming with life forms and which supplies us with seemingly limitless food of one kind or another, it is the only thing we have at present, our only habitat for many years to come. And yet we treat it so harshly and so cavalierly, and now it may have begun to repay us in the currency we richly deserve, with natural phenomena that are capable of sweeping away hundreds or thousands of people at a stroke.

Trees

Tall proud trees reaching up in single-minded pursuit of the light, attaining heights few if any other trees can match and soaking up the precious sunlight. What these giants must survey from their lofty perch can only be imagined and must be another world from the one we humans see at ground level.

A stately tree with branches outspread, imposing in its gold autumnal colours, sedate and tranquil in its solid stance, a reassuring presence. It's the type you might like to seek solace or shelter under, whether it be from emotional turmoil or simply bad weather!

Lofty sentinels standing proud in the tropics as the dawn breaks and the sun's rays spill over the horizon, lighting up the early morning sky. What exotic adventures of exploration might these lanky giants recount if they could only speak?

Trees of all shapes, sizes and shades, in every corner of the world, in such variety as to engross and captivate the curious and the appreciative of Nature's creation. It is hard to think of any other living organism that shapes and influences our environment as much as trees.

Brazilian Carnival

Carnival time in Brazil is a time to really let your hair down and go wild. For days on end there's nothing else but carnival and more carnival and for those few who are not into such revelry and merriment it is sheer hell. But for those who can't get enough of it, it's heaven on earth! For a great many, however, it's the way things are and they go with the flow in a sort of love-hate relationship with carnival capers and high jinks . Carnival during the day is lively enough, but come the night it livens up even more. The less adventurous stay indoors as much as they can while the more daring hit the street to live it up and party late into the night. Alcohol flows freely and makes people want to dance in the street and follow the many processions that parade through the streets.

The streets come to life with music and the noise of carnival in general, and at night some streets are illuminated by lots of overhead decorative lights strung up everywhere to add to the special atmosphere that characterises the carnival season. And by carnival season i mean the pre-carnival lead-up, the official carnival period, and the post-carnival wind-down! The Brazilians certainly know how to keep things going and milk a good thing when they have it.

A whole industry has grown up around the carnival and before the event itself takes place there are months of preparation to organise everything, make up the costumes, banners, giant dolls, floats and whatever else goes into making a carnival worthy of the name. This is especially so in such cities as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro where the art of carnival is second to none and where the main event takes place in a stadium called a 'sambodrome'. The processions that parade through the sambodrome have to be seen to be believed. They are nothing short of magnificent and breath-taking.