Goodbye, July

I know it’s September, but I’m still thinking about July. It was a beautiful, short combination of summer and freedom, friendly faces and new places.

For a few weeks, it was warm and sunny. What made it remarkable was that there was almost no rain for those weeks. So many sunny days in a row is a rarity not appreciated by everyone, but certainly very much so by this blogger.

And to think that it coincided with my annual vacation from work! I was very lucky this time.

But as soon as the month changed, a chill arrived with the wind, and thoughts turned to autumn. In August, summer was over just like that, as it always is.

Road trips, day trips, ferry trips; something for the kids, something for me.

Coming back to reality felt like coming home after a month on a tropical island: reluctance and disbelief. The cool weather quickly forced me to wear long pants and long sleeves again, and cover up the evidence of happy days outdoors.

I’m back to a computer-driven existence, and will have to wait another 9 months for my next moment of joyful summer activity. This is life, I guess.

But let’s not talk about the weather, I’ve done too much of that and I’m boring myself.

Let’s talk about the sheep my son and I saw walking through a forest to a secluded little beach, all neatly in a line! Do sheep have leaders, do they always follow the same one when they form a line? All I know is, the last time I saw sheep on a beach was in Crete 15 years ago, and this time around it still looked as comical – although endearing, too.

And let me tell you how I fulfilled my desire to stand-up paddle, unlike last summer when time just slipped away from me and left me empty-handed. How I loved being so close to the water and seeing the shore from a distance! So silent and peaceful. I’m grateful I had the chance to calm down for a moment in this way.

Believe it or not, I actually had plenty of first time experiences this summer: my family was invited to a friend’s wood-burned sauna, I saw wild deer in the forest, and we visited the Turku archipelago.

And I discovered the beautiful beach of Yyteri, one of the few properly sandy beaches in the country, with dunes and pine trees (only palm trees were missing!). As it turns out, waking up at six along with the kids has its advantages: we were at the beach by 8:30 and it wasn’t crowded at all!

This summer, my love for aviation got rekindled, too, when a free air show was arranged in a downtown park, and planes and jets flew for 5 or 6 hours, some of them originating from the UK, Germany, and France. The sky roared with thunderous volume when it was the jets’ turn and I couldn’t keep my eyes off them.

My favourite was the Patrouille de France, which I’ve seen before but still found as impressive as the first time. It had eight planes flying in figures and doing tricks. For a moment, I forgot all about my climate change angst and just enjoyed watching the planes fly in a windy but clear sky. Just like the old days, when I worked at the airport.

And – using my birthday as an excuse – I bought myself a smartwatch to push me to track my fitness and I’m loving it. I feel like Penny from my favourite childhood show Inspector Gadget. (A cartoon which, in the 80’s, was very much ahead of its time with smartwatches and iPads!) Well, at least I was loving it until I tripped and fractured my foot! Ouch. But this was in September, and the post is about July.

Those few precious summer weeks in July were spent with family, while also allowing for some me time. Time is passing right under our noses and watching kids grow is the best way to see it happening. Did you know that kids these days learn to ride a bike without training wheels, thanks to balance biking since age two?

In July, we went to children’s outdoors events and enjoyed the fact that it didn’t rain. Oh, how I love clear skies without the constant threat of downfall!

And then I went back to work, where a colleague immediately started a long story about her love for rain and how she was thrilled that she could finally wear woollen socks again now that it wasn’t not too hot anymore.

I felt like a sheep on the beach: will anyone notice I’m in the wrong place?

Take care!