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..." *

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"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."

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"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."

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

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

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"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."

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"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'.)