Back to Reality

I’m back! What? No-one noticed I was gone? Damn and blast!!

Anyway, I’ve been away from my blog for some while now, partly due to not having anything much to say about anything but mainly to my being away in foreign shores, soaking up the sun and staring out to sea whilst ingesting copious amounts of soft drinks, oysters and cashew nuts, none of which is calculated to do the waistline any good!

Not your typical beach pic but more 'scenic'

Still, gluttony and excess will have their way, but now it’s time to try and shed those extra pounds by a diet of carrots and lettuce leaves. Not for nothing is it called the ‘Rabbit Diet’. Munch, munch.

There was also the carnival, a time of enforced revelry and legitimised lunacy when all other life came to a standstill. I too was swept up in the general mood of merriment and mayhem but managed to get away with the minimum participation.


When I got back on home ground it was cold and grey, as usual, and the sun and the heat were already but a distant memory. It was back to warm woolly socks, jumpers and jackets. But that was then and this is now. It’s warmed up again and now we’re on 18ºC! Still, can’t really compare with night-time 28ºC and daytime 38ºC at my holiday destination. But at least I’m comfortable in clothes now and have no desire to run around butt-naked to relieve my discomfort.

Back to the routine also means back to reality, and reality is nearly all bad. The world has gone mad and everyone seems to be up in arms in the Arab countries in a chain reaction to oust the oligarchic regimes that reign there, Japan is on the brink of national collapse after suffering earthquakes, tsunamis and radiation leaks, and the European economies are sinking ever deeper into the murky waters of austerity and teetering on the edge of national bankruptcy. We’re all worse off - it's official - with some much more than others. Man-made tragedies vie with natural disasters for the top position in destructiveness. It’s got too scary to even look out of the window, let alone go outside!

Crikey, it's too fuckin' scary out there!

Indoors is the safest place in a world where no place is safe. Vicarious experience through the telly and the internet and the cellphone are the best options. The real world is a scary place and getting scarier every day. Suddenly the sofa and one’s bed offer infinite attractions at little or no effort and zero cost.

Still, mustn’t grumble, I’m still alive and in one piece and millions of people out there are in a much worse condition. As I write this piece, the sun is shining, the birds singing, the trees budding, there’s a blue sky above, some food in the fridge, I’ve got money in my pocket, and life still seems worth living. Well, let’s face it, it takes a lot to make death more attractive than life, don’t you think? When all’s said and done, death doesn’t have a lot going for it unless of course life has been dumping on you since you were a baby!

Well, that’s enough of that, I need to get back to work now and earn a few bob to re-stock the fridge, otherwise life won’t be worth living!

The Great British Summer 2

You might think that having had a brief bash at this topic a little while back, there's not much more to say on it and that I would leave it well enough alone now. Well, you might think that and it does make sense, but I simply can’t stay off such a sexy subject. It is after all a major British preoccupation and needs to be given its due weight and consideration. One post hardly does it justice, especially as it was a rather short one and some time ago.

The thing is that although it is notionally still summer here, Summer doesn’t seem to know it and appears to be attempting an early exit stage left. It has packed its bags and is nearly out the door to judge by the mix of unseasonal weather we’ve been getting these past few days. Wind, rain, cold... cold, rain, wind.. interspersed of course with patches of bright sunny weather to give us a false sense of security. Those foolish enough to go out in thin summery clothes and without a brolly risk being chilled by a gusting wind and soaked by a sudden downpour. The sun then comes out again but the damage is done.

The other day, as I set off for my daily jog, dark clouds began to gather, shutting out the sun which had been shining up to that point, albeit rather bashfully, the wind picked up and a light rain began to fall. Determined not to be put off by this sudden turn, I carried on towards the adjacent park and, once there, I got into my stride, but it was not looking good. The wind made me feel cold, the rain, which admittedly was not much more than a drizzle, was starting to wet me, and the gloom made it feel like the end of the world!

And yet within just minutes the rain had fizzled out, the wind had slackened, the clouds had parted, and the sun was sending its golden rays down on this part of the world again. The weather had gone from a nice sunny day, to wind, rain and gloom, to a nice sunny day again in the space of under ten minutes! Or was it five? I can't be sure, as I wasn’t wearing a watch. One thing's for sure is that had I drifted off to sleep while it was still warm and sunny and woken a few minutes later, I would never have known that the weather had turned downright nasty for a few minutes!


Anyway, coming back to Summer’s short lease ("And summer's lease hath all too short a date", W. S., Sonnet 18), at least in these northern climes, we may yet get some decent warm days, perhaps an Indian summer... or two... before the warm weather goes on leave till next year. As I wrote these lines of inspired clear-sighted observation, I was sat by the window where I was intermittently blinded by bright sunlight that almost obliterated the image on my monitor or plunged into premature twilight by a gloom that made me glad I could touch-type! (I speak in the past tense because it's been a couple of days between drafting this post and publishing it.)

If you’ve stayed with me up to this point, you’re a hardy soul and to be congratulated. But I’m not done yet and you might not last till the end, so you may still fall at a hurdle before the finish! I still have to recount an escapade of mine a couple of years back when torrential rain was unleashed on us after days of hot muggy mid-summer weather. As the rain came down in bucketfuls, I decided to make the most of it and, in imitation of something I had done on a trip to Brazil, I stripped, donned a pair of swimming-trunks and rushed out into the back garden.

I then strode about the garden, rejoicing in the feel of the cool rain on my skin. It washed and refreshed me, relieving me of the hot sweatiness of the day's heat. Within a few short moments my hair was drenched and so were my swim-shorts and the rainwater was pouring down me, bathing me in its cool caress, renewing me, cleansing me. It was such a wonderful feeling and I stayed out in the rain for as long as it lasted, enjoying every minute of it. But eventually the storm began to abate, the rain slackened off, and I looked silly standing there in the garden in my swim-shorts soaked to the core, so I made a hasty retreat back indoors and straight to the bathtub! Days like that are very rare. Not so much in terms of the rain, there’s enough of that alright, but it’s usually not warm enough for one to go out in the rain in just skimpy shorts without feeling cold.

 As for the similar incident in Brazil which I mentioned above, I was at a sort of out-of-town guest-house at the time, what they call a pousada there, when the heavens opened up in a spectacular way so characteristic of a tropical thunderstorm. Like a shot I changed into my swim-trunks and made a bee-line for the swimming-pool. As I circled round in the pool the rain cascaded down furiously like an immense heaven-sent waterfall. And I for one couldn't get enough of it. The combination of the pool water below and the torrential rainwater above was one of the greatest feelings I've ever had and is up there with s.e.x. in terms of good feeling. It certainly lasted much longer! Everyone else in the hotel must have thought I was out of my tiny mind as they stared out at me from the shelter and comfort of the pousada, but I didn’t care. In fact I felt sorry for them, they didn’t know what they were missing, poor sods! I could have spent most of the day splashing about in the pool as the rain beat down on me, but it was over all too soon, though the memory has stayed with me ever since.

Well, that’s all for now, luvvies, though I know you want more. But, who knows, I might come back to this fascinating topic another time.

Absence

For anyone interested (a dubious premise), I've been away for awhile, recharging my batteries (Duracell of course), one might say, which is why I have not been blogging lately. Or to put it another way, I've been in foreign climes, sunning myself on sandy beaches, ogling the sensual señoritas, sampling the local cuisine, bathing in warm tropical waters, and generally living the life of a hedonistic heathen. Nothing out of the ordinary there, you exclaim, and you're probably right, but there's no harm in trying to throw off one's image of the boring old fart and don that of the international playboy, is there? 

And just to give flesh to my words, here I am in an exotic faraway place in tourist mode contemplating the lunch arrangements... amongst other things... Yes, it's true, enjoying oneself can be an awful drudge and has to be meticulously planned. One slip-up and you could go from enjoyment to, well, non-enjoyment! And that would be unthinkable. So you can understand now why I'm in pensive mood. I must get it right.

But now that's all in the past, albeit recent, and I'm back to work and back to reality. Time to pay for the trip and earn another one. Time to roll up my sleeves and get serious.

Through my window

The sun shines through my window and illuminates a narrow slice of the room,

outside the sun is a dazzling splash of pale yellow light low on the horizon,

it lights up a corner of the sky, still magnificent as it slowly sets in the west,

the dark leafless trees are silhouetted against its flaming gold splendour,

frosty corners of the window panes glint magically in the dying sunlight,

outside freshly-fallen snow blankets the ground and tops the garden wall;

The sun is a spectacle of golden dazzling light but it’s a sun that gives no heat,

it is a cold sun in a harsh winter and there are many more chilly days ahead.

From the warmth of my heated room I peer through the window and shiver,

only necessity will persuade me to venture out in this cold winter’s chill.

In a matter of minutes the fiery disc of the sun will dip below the horizon,

then a sudden darkness will descend upon a silent wintry landscape,

and with the coming of night will come a bone-piercing numbing cold,

and the only sight dimly perceived in the pale moonlight through my window

will be a carpet of snow maintaining all things in a long dreamless sleep.

Island of Your Dreams

I am a fair isle of natural beauty and wondrous enchantment, a green oasis set in a vast ocean. I am clothed in a dense tropical forest which reaches down as far as the shore. There golden sandy beaches stretch for most of my length. I am bathed by warm ocean waters that glisten and sparkle in the afternoon sun. It would be fair to say that I sit in a sea of tranquillity, in an ocean of calm, in an earthly paradise that exists... somewhere out there.

The rain that falls on me is plentiful and it is usually heavy, driving in from the sea and sweeping down in sheets across my length and breadth. It may last for an hour or for a day, but when it is over I feel thoroughly cleansed and reborn. More importantly, it has made me into what I am today, a verdant jewel lush with vegetation. It has filled my forest with life of many forms and colours and of many sounds and songs.

The blue waters that bathe my shores are smooth and crystal-clear and I delight in their warm and gentle caress, in their soothing sibilant murmur. But there are times when, driven by strong offshore winds, they form tall waves that come roaring in, racing up the beach and slamming into anything in their path. And there are times when this coincides with one of the many rainstorms that lash me, and then I am buffeted by wind and drenched by rain, but I never fail to stand my ground.

Yet for all that, I am truly blessed with the best that nature can bestow... sunshine in abundance, waters that cradle me in their gentle embrace, rainfall to satisfy all my flora and fauna, beaches that form a golden girdle around me, a forest that pulses with life and is my beating heart, and... and this is vital to my well-being - a total absence of humankind! Now tell me, what more could an island like me ask for?

On the other side

Dead of winter and outside the trees stand bare,

hard and cold is the ground beneath its dusting of frost,

cold is the breeze that blows throught the leafless trees,

and chilly is the dying day as it gives way to colder night.

Yet through the tinted flower petals edged in the glass,

a world of changing colours moves before my searching gaze;

where the seasons parade in a kaleidoscope of rich hues,

where dark sluggish clouds scud against a ruddy sky, or

puffs of white cotton are blown across a firmament of blue;

where gentle ripples from a warm sea expire on shore,

or furious foaming waves crash across defiant rocks;

where soft breezes are like the gentlest of caresses

and howling winds like icicles pricking the skin;

where the dazzling globe of the sun climbs in the sky

sending its heat to earth to rouse life and hasten death.

This is our World... from this side and the other side.

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.