Thursday, July 16, 2009

I SPENT THE SUMMER...

park

Slowly, halfway through July it began to dawn on me that apart from 3 days in Paris last month, I would not get to travel again this summer. As friends drift off to summerhouses on unpronounceable northern islands, to cross country road trips and to country homes, I wonder how I slipped through the net. I didn't and won't go to Lisbon or Switzerland or any of the other places I doodled in my notebook during the hope of spring. It's ok, there have already been some good barbecues, some fun and games, some small adventures (above). I'm sure I will manage to go to the beach in England and it will probably be like this:

legs

And that will be...ok too.

{photos: me}
{title from here}

7 comments:

Unknown said...

i am crossing my fingers for you to make it to the beach!
(lovely pictures)...
since the weather has been absolutely lousy here (and when i was in paris, it rained...) i have not given up hope on escaping to the sea somewhere..i am thinking spain....;)) i need somewhere where i can wear linen and be almost bare-foot...

erica said...

you and me both. except my deck has been padlocked due to 'structural issues'. no word of when i'll be able to sit outside drinking a beer and enjoying what's left of this summer.

this has truly been the summer that never was! i'll console myself with farmers markets and ice cream.

i hope you make it to the beach a few times, at least.

Claire said...

If Jane - hope you make it somewhere lovely.

Erica - that is so funny (well not funny, more uncanny) - my deck got literally ripped up and was unusable for May and June while the roof beneath was being fixed. I've only just got it reinstated with the plants that didn't die from being moved/scorched by the blowtorches of the roof guys. Hope your deck is unlocked before winter!

Pillarkati said...

You slept under a tree with a baby deer, or at least took a photo of someone sleeping under a tree with a baby deer. That would make my summer.

A highlight of a trip to Europe a few years ago (yes, highly ranked amongst Italian seaside towns, ancient Breton castles, strolling in Copenhagen) was seeing a single small orange squirrel blur past under an oak tree. These almost mythical creatures are imagined but unseen features of an antipodean childhood, confined to pages between the covers of book.

Claire said...

Yes, it was a stranger asleep with the baby deer. But then afterwards we started thinking was the person okay? How long had they been there? Where was the deer's mother? Had it latched onto a human because it was lost? So suddenly the peaceful nature of the photo wasn't so certain anymore.
I don't remember ever seeing a red squirrel though -that was lucky.

Sneaky Magpie said...

I have a similar summer this year, only a family visit which doesn't qualify as holidays for me. I did manage to go to Rye and Whitstable though for a day. Can't believe it's already mid July!

Anonymous said...

ahhh... what a relaxing set of pictures, my idea of heaven right now.
xxx
Mia
PS I am alive, just sleeping a lot! ;)