The dog days are drawing to a close. The dog days basically cover the period between July 23 and August 23 here in the Northern hemisphere, hot sultry days when food rots, milk sours, drinks go stale - and humans grow languid and lazy with the stagnant weather. The sea boils. Dogs go mad. Diseases prevail. Good then, that the dog days mark the end of summer, and new freshness is brought to us by a crisper and colder season! (Though I for one would prefer dog days all year round if I had the choice.... except for the stale and sour stuff.... and the diseases..... but languid and lazy? Not adverse to that at all!)
It is true though, that to me August has often been a month of melancholy - with a touch of sadness and a sense of change - brought on by the fact that summer is over, the everlasting holidays come to an end, and school or work and the reality of every day chores are back. When my brother and sister were children and on holiday at our summer house they would hear the rustling of the "school wind" in the tree tops, just a few days before we were due to head back to Oslo. And this wind was so different to summer breezes, with its own sound, tolling us to autumn duties.
Hauling the boat on land for winter storage means: "End of Summer"
The cat in the photo at the beginning of this blog post is called Beyonce. She's the sweetest cat ever, so relaxed, cuddly and gentle. She loves to sleep next to a furry toy animal - in this case a dog - or close to an allergic Big Mama. She's not our cat though - she belongs to my daughter Johanne, but she's lived in our house most of the summer, looked after by Sophie and kind neighbours. Yesterday I found her on the terrace trying to relax, but being disturbed and aggravated by a bushy intruder. The bushy one kept making complaining noises and challenging Beyonce to a staring competition, but she didn't bat an eyelid nor degrade herself to reply at all. Eventually she just lay down to sleep, probably provoking Bushy no end. I went inside but turned around quickly when I heard the most nerve racking screech. Bushy Cat was gone. Beyonce yawned and stretched.
It turned out - according to my daughters - that the Enormous Bushy (bigger even than fat-bottomed Beyonce) has been greedy and pushy trying to make our terrace and house her/his home, but "no way José," said the sweet but determined Beyonce! When we weren't looking....
Dog days or no dog days - the sunny weather is holding on, but the Nordic nights are closing in, bearing a premonition of the never ending darkness in store for us in only a few months, nights that will end at 10 am and start again at 3 pm, and that's here in the south! Further north there is no daylight for months. Hmmm.... is this a way to talk before August hasn't even ended? Oh, but I would like to capture summer and keep it in a jar and let it out little by little all through winter! Warmth, light, greenery, flowers, sun and bare feet and arms!
The charm of the changing seasons is for others to enjoy.
Bambi deflating - summer's almost gone
Darkening August nights need lit candles in the apple trees
No comments:
Post a Comment