Am I the only one you feels like September is more of a New Year than January?The long summer days are noticably shorter, schools are reopening, workmates are returning to the offices, tans are fading and a small hint of cool has crept into the early morning air. Things will soon start feeling fresh and renewed after a long hot dusty Greek summer.
In the next ten days, we’ll have to pack up our belongings from the little house by the sea where we’ve been camped out (and commuted from) since late June and return to the grime of the city. And waiting for us there will be parched plants to be revived, piles of bills to be paid, school supplies to be purchased, sports clubs to sign up for, and empty larders to be filled.
We’ve done almost everything al fresco in the past two and half months – even showers are open to the elements, the lazy buzz of passing insects and the tickle of stray strands of honeysuckle. Indoors in the country is strictly for sleeping during summer.
September is one of the best months in Greece – the strong summer winds that fan forest fires have blown themselves out, the weather is blissfully warm without making you break a sweat just toweling off after a shower, and the sea is clear and calm.
And yet, it’s also the month that will bring that fresh note to the mornings, marking the end of summer’s lazy dog days. My floppy sun-bleached mop will be tamed, helped by an emergency trip to the hairdressers to make me look at least half-way professional for a business meeting. Bare tanned feet will swap strappy sandals for closed shoes. And, little by little, more make-up will be needed to make me look alive at 7am.
Gradually, the curtain down will come down on our seasonal outdoors life.
It will also mark a return to our own bed, our own space, a shorter (and cheaper) commut
e to work, and fewer people fighting for control of the TV remote control. School friendships will be revived, I will reclaim my own kitchen - and before we know it we’ll be back to the work-school-home routine.But before that happens, I hope there are just a few more days on the beach…
You make me long for my "ex" French life. Which I do anyway to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI miss the smell of heat and salt on my girls' arms when they cuddle me; the extraordinary light in the very early mornings; the taste of chilled rosé and the ease and pace of life there.
And then there's the winters - the skiing, the hiking, the fireside film afternoons.....
I could go on but I'll probably end up in tears! Enjoy the end of the summer.....