Yesterday it was so hot that when I was sitting on Dianne's back patio I kept moving my chair to try and stay in the shade. Tobias worked in the garden and got all kinds of farmer-burn on his face, neck, arms, and legs.
Today it rained practically all day. It started when I was riding to work.
( Even though it's a holiday, I went into the office for about five hours because I needed to make up the time. I took Friday afternoon off to take Rara to the dentist for fillings and to get two for myself. )
It was a nice light rain for my twenty-minute ride to the office, so I didn't mind for my sake, but Tobias, Jeff and the kids were supposed to be going sailing so I felt bad for them. ( As it turned out, they weren't able to get the boat out of the compound because someone had changed the passcode on the lock, so it was a moot point. )
Last time I rode to work in the rain -- last week -- I looked goth by the time I arrived, because my eye makeup had dripped down my face. Today, no such disasters befell me because I was in weekend mode. This means that I was wearing no makeup and second-tier clothes. Second tier clothes are old, ill-fitting, stained, or overly casual and I only bust them out on the weekends.
In theory I could do the no-makeup and crappy clothes costume every day. In theory, it doesn't matter what software developers look like. But since that's only in theory, I do make a slight effort on normal work days, and try to put together reasonable outfits and, for the first time in my life, I am wearing foundation nearly every day. It's a sign of the times: I have a career and I wear foundation. After six months, it almost feels normal.
Usually, from May to September, I feel obliged to cook certain types of dishes. Warm weather food; the kind of things that are in Nigella Lawson's cookbook Forever Summer. Seafoody things, grilled things, salady things, fruit desserts. Not, say, pudding cake or beef stew. Today, because of the rain, I made risotto with hot italian sausage and mushrooms. A consolation prize for the lack of sun.
The mood of rain here is lovely, you know. Every thing gets dark and green and dripping. The smell of the sea becomes stronger. It feels safe and cozy.
Here is a gratuitous photo of Django, my bike.
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