Oh, to be in England now that

[raven]

Summer's here. It's twenty-seven degrees in Oxford, I am wearing my favourite light-as-air skirt and my favourite little top, there are no clouds in the sky. shimgray and I went for a lovely walk down by the Isis, and stopped in a picturesque pub just before Iffley Lock and drank cider, and lemonade with ginger, and watched the pleasure craft and geese pass by on the river. It's days like this when I wonder how I can even begin to be considering leaving this city, where I have been so happy, and where the world drifts to the water in May.

(But Ithaca has Cayuga Lake, and Cambridge, the Cam - so we shall see.)

The forecast is set to stay good, and I have been contemplatively looking at sundresses on eBay. It is worth noting, before I am mocked by Americans and other aliens, that summer in England is not an annual event; that our enjoyment of every hot summer day is plagued with fear that it will be the last beautiful day, not merely of the season but of one's life, and so shedding clothes and grabbing at picnic baskets is the only reasonable response.

So there has been capering in the sun today, and now it's evening and still bright and the air has a half-baked quality, as though it's been trapped within the walls all day; which, I suppose, it has - my benchmark for heat is India, and while India is a great deal hotter (forty-seven degrees, today!), the buildings are made so heat reflects briefly in and then firmly out, and there are ceiling fans, and air-conditioning units, and occasionally fridges that I wish to live in. (And power cuts. Fridges stay cool a surprisingly long time even after the power has failed.) But in India you don't get quite this much airlessness, because the heat here is being held in by double-glazing and beds with thick covers.

But I still love it. Forty-seven degrees makes me into the proverbial wilting flower, but heat like this, gentle, with appreciative breezes, with brand new red sandals and brand new red toenail polish, with that kind of deep ease in it, it's lightening. It makes me feel very comfortable in skin. And speaking of India. In July 2007, I went on yatra (pilgrimage, sort of) to Vaishno Devi, which is some distance from Jammu, and it was an experience. At the actual point of pilgrimage, at Bhawan, there were crowds and crowds of people and we were hustled quickly through - it was the peak season - and my mother has said, ever since, that she missed it. I've tried to argue that it was about the journey - the 15 km up and then down again - and not so much the destination, which she does concede to some extent, but I think she feels that the moment passed her by. And put that way I understand it; doing a yatra isn't procedural, it is about faith, and you can't speak for someone else about that. If she feels she missed it, she missed it.

So we're planning to do it again. This time, though, a lot of things will be different. A smaller party - we numbered in the low millions last time - and in December, rather than the baking heat and monsoon, we'll have snow. And also, shimgray is coming with us, which my mother suggested; which for me brings a quiet measure of a calm, a quiet reassurance that things are ticking over as they ought. (I've never known if my parents think my relationship is not a problem, or not a problem yet; it's a mystery to them as well, I suspect. Don't I blaze trails, on my quiet way through life.) And I am looking forward to this so, so much - this is supposed to be a year of change, a year balanced on the cusp of newness - and that it ends in a place I've been before, in a new skin, is something that feels right to me.

Comments

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

It's so gorgeous here today. I went punting with friends first thing this morning, and it was so lovely out there on the river. (I always find it odd how you have the quiet river and the city centre right there next to each other, and yet when you're in one you hardly notice the other.) I am, unfortunately, frankly awful with hot weather and have been complaining frequently about it.

[ghostrunner7.livejournal.com]

As an American, the fragility of your summer amuses me, but I love your voice in this and I've always wanted to see Oxford.

[tau_sigma]

I am amazed that it was so long ago, that you did that, because it has stuck in my mind - because it was such an experience, and your writing is always so good at conveying that, and it was so thought provoking and amazing-sounding - and I really didn't think it was that long ago.

I am glad you're going with Shim, also. That sounds ... good. I think that is an understatement, but I think that you'll know what I mean; I'm glad that you can share it with him, that you can share all that you are with him, you know? That's good.

Finally, ohgod it is hot. I was not built for this, Iona! It's the humidity I can't stand, the constant feeling of sticky dampness about everything. *sigh* In less humid or cooler places, though, I do very much appreciate the summer; I'm enjoying the beautiful days and the abundance of sunshine and light.

[speccygeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

We're going to be living on the same lake soon!

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

27°C. Today... was almost close to being a perfect environment for an adult female deathbyshinies. Reminds me that I really need to finish 'Five things that Rosie Weasley...' and dedicate it to you :D

[troyswann.livejournal.com]

I love your posts. You are a gift to my friends-list. Really. Really really.

[jennygriffee.livejournal.com]

re: summer weather: I read this post and thought, "So.... just like Seattle, then." ;) This sort of thing has even worked its way into local ad campaigns (http://www.youtube.com/user/NorthWestTypes#p/u/9/80McEjEPCsM), heaven help us....


(Personally, I'm more the Ghostlike Used Bookstore Waif (http://www.youtube.com/user/NorthWestTypes#p/u/16/SpByoeW8f7c) type, myself.)

[sir-rosealot.livejournal.com]

Gentle? Gentle?! It makes me want to die. I do not say that lightly. I have no idea how I ever managed to live in Australia... maybe small children can cope better with heat...

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

I had a perfect Cambridge summer's day on Saturday. I cycled into the city and spent the afternoon at Jesus Green pool (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Green_Swimming_Pool), a gorgeously 1920s lido. I took a picnic, a couple of books, and plenty of suncream, and am still glowing at the memory.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

My main association with your previous yatra is you phoning me up a couple of months later to go "LAURA I AM LOST IN MY HOME TOWN, WHERE CAN I GET PIZZA". *mocks gently*

[rosariotijeras.livejournal.com]

You make this whole sudden summer weather, sweating through my shirt even though I am from somewhere hot goddamn it thing seem quite all right. Have you considered a career in creative weather writing?

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

Oh how I miss Oxford at this time of year! I'd of spent the day at the Botanical Gardens and taken a walk by the canal to come out over at Christ Church. In open-toed sandals, natch.

[silveronthetree.livejournal.com]

It is my first summer in Oxford and it is so lovely in the sunshine, I spent the afternoon in the Botanical Gardens and then I also walked along the Isis. I'll have to visit Iffley Lock next time.

[fyrdrakken]

It is worth noting, before I am mocked by Americans and other aliens, that summer in England is not an annual event; that our enjoyment of every hot summer day is plagued with fear that it will be the last beautiful day, not merely of the season but of one's life, and so shedding clothes and grabbing at picnic baskets is the only reasonable response.

I really do get this, in that it's the seasonal inverse of the Dallas reaction to snow: Whereas summer temperatures fit to melt lead are standard and to be expected, white flakes falling from the sky are special and magical, and when we get enough to start piling up there's nothing for it but to take a day to stay home and perhaps go out and play in it, or merely huddle inside with something warming and contemplate the transformed landscape. I'm glad you're having such wonderful weather right now.

Also glad to hear that you're going back with your mother for a second try at something she got rushed through the first time, and that you're taking shimgray this time around.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

I love you. ♥