Summer is in full bloom - which is usually stifling and insufferable in a dense and busy city like London. Yet it is quite interesting to see how the city changes colours in June. At other times of the year, the London underground is a sea of blacks and greys and navies, but as the heat creeps up to a sweltering 30C, little bits of colour spring forth. Vibrancy has never been a strong suit for Londoners, but pastel shades the odd bright summer dresses come out slowly from the wardrobe: lighter, even if not much brighter. The grass in the park turns more and more golden, as bees buzz around the lavender blooms near the concrete-laden bus stop, unusually full from commuters seeking alternative to the already breaking down trains. This city, this country, was never built for this heat.
I spent the whole of yesterday afternoon reading,. After another failed attempt to be ‘productive’ with my job searching, I decided to give up and stop. But in a rare turn of events I mustered enough protestation against that usual demon that always lures me back home to waste my afternoons in bed watching god knows what on YouTube.
I picked up a book at the British Library bookshop - A Far Cry From Kensington. And then just sat down and read in a stone nook (it was barely a chair) in front of the exhibition hall. When they closed the section for an event, I headed out and sat on the grass in front of the Google office and read for another couple of hours. The heat did not bother me as much as I thought it would. Only when I start moving did I notice it, but in the shade, sedentary, engrossed in the tales of the London publishing scene in the 50s, the heat faded away to the background. It’s almost as if the heat only punishes movement. As if summer is a signal to be patient.
In university I learnt that heat is essentially just kinetic energy. Summer has always been a manic restless period for me, my least favourite time of the year. It turns out, if I do not take the early sunrises and sweltering heat at face value, as signals to do more, I could enjoy it a little more. Summer already provides an abundance, I do not need to add more movement.
Currently listening to: Lady Maisery + Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith.
Saw them in concert at King’s Place last week and it really felt like a joyous summer celebration.