First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of summer. No, I know the calendars don't say so, nor do my children who still have to go to school till June 9, nor does my work schedule which goes on through June . . . but it's the first day of summer for me.

Yesterday a hot scirocco wind blew in and changed the weather completely. We had been having temperate days of about 25° celsius. Long sleeves with a light jacket, or no jacket at midday, were working fine. Other people had broken out the short sleeves, but I wasn't convinced yet . . . And then, all of a sudden, badaboom (as they say here) the heat arrived. It must have been around 35° yesterday and today.

However, what makes it really summer is that today I went to the beach. I only live 2 blocks from the beach, so you could argue that I'm always at the beach. But I mean that I went to the beach, stripped down to my bikini, lay on a beach towel, applied suntan lotion and . . . most importantly, went for a swim in the sea. Two swims, actually! The water was cold getting in, but once I swam around a bit it felt just right. And it was clean. That's not a given around here. We often have algae, or garbage, or nonspecific sludge, or foamy white bubbles that float on the top of the water. Anyway, it was exhilirating!

It happens this way every year. You don't get enough time to get used to going out without your winter coat before it's suddenly too hot. Last night I finally took the fleece blanket off the bed . . . and today we turned on the air-conditioner!