We’re in a mini heat wave and it’s probably serious.
It’s serious because this is Ireland and everyone knows that good weather is limited during the summer months – like oil or Ireland’s recent hit in the Eurovision Song Contest.
And so there’s a sense that we have to make the most of it; get value for money and cram as much summer stuff into these days as possible.
A hot summer day in Ireland can feel a bit like the weather equivalent of a visit to an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. We want everything at once. And twice.
We become like Alan Partridge with his 12-inch board. Determined to make up for all the average restaurant sized portions we’ve endured in our adult lives.
Or, in this weather equivalent, we’ll make up for all those cloudy vacations we’ve spent wearing a Gortex windbreaker and paddling in icy water on a desolate shoreline. So when the sun comes out, we have zero cold.
Articles came out this week enthusiastically informing us that Maynooth is hotter than Mexico City, and Clontarf is sweatier than the Canary Islands. These news reports confirm that we are finally victorious in the game of weathermanship! The people of Mexico City will probably wake up, look at the thermometer, shake their heads sadly and say, “If only we were in Maynooth.”
Men suddenly start walking through town without tops on. Families arrive at beaches decorated with collapsible dinghies and hundreds of smashed sandwiches in aluminum foil. There are day trips and lists with instructions on what to do and when.
As a result, these days tend to spark a sun-inspired frenzy in me. On Sunday I ate a 99 cone for breakfast, I went swimming, then to a park, then to a farmers market, then I had some ice cream. I seriously debated whether an inflatable paddleboard was a solid investment. By now it was 11:30 am.
“What else can we do today?” I asked. “We have to take advantage of the nice weather. What if this is the only sunny day of summer? What if it rains for the rest of July and all of August?’
I was determined to stay out. Another dive? Maybe we can make a barbecue out of a few twigs? Or make a waterslide out of those discarded garbage bags?
But when one of our kids showed up, they were tired of being held captive in the heat. It was too hot and too light. She wanted to go home.
After some negotiation, where she eventually (and inevitably) won, we returned to our house and spent the afternoon in a darkened room, watching YouTube videos of a T-Rex singing pop songs, and then we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas†
At first it felt sacrilegious to be trapped inside – it was lovely outside, we were missing something.
But after a while, FOMO subsided and the appeal started to grow. It was cool inside and on top of that Benedict Cumberbatch is a very funny Grinch.
There is a real decadent joy of doing nothing indoors on a summer’s day. Hide from the glare, watch TV, avoid all sun-seeking mania.
A few years ago, ‘Niksen’ took over from Hygge as the new trendy lifestyle craze.
The Dutch term that is celebrated with doing nothing or doing something that makes no sense. It moved away from the concept that ‘time is money, and you have to have something to show for your time – either getting work done, or self-improvement’.
It’s easy to be cynical about these fads, but it’s an art and sometimes even an advantage to sit in your pants and be lazy.
Shutting down takes discipline. But once you get the hang of it, you realize how much fun it is to eat a whole pack of icebergs while sloth-like curled up on your kitchen floor.
If you assume and accept that you are doing a squat, there is no pressure to prove yourself. You stop trying to judge the fun of your day by a fun summer checklist. Instead, rate how you feel at the end of the day. And I felt relaxed, albeit a little nauseous from all that ice cream.
I wouldn’t advise spending all summer watching kids’ YouTube videos. But doing absolutely nothing on a sun-filled day may be the best way to spend it.
Choose friends over BFFs…
“Ride or Die” female friendships seem to be central to so many female TV shows, movies, and books. In friends† girls† And just like that† Everything I know about love – it’s all about these intense feminine bonds that stand the test of time.
But in her new book BFF The truth about female friendships, author Claire Cohen discusses the “cultivation” of the “Best Friend Forever” storytelling women are sold and how limiting it can be. She states that this starts at school; while little guys are encouraged to participate in bigger social circles, girls feel pressured to mate with “a soulmate to whom you can tell all your secrets and who is always behind you”. This is repeated throughout our lives, she says, from the Spice Girls telling us friendship never ends to modern movie arcs.
But after interviewing many women for her book, Cohen says this isn’t the case. Most friendships break down, especially those from elementary school or high school. And these breakups can be very painful and long-lasting and lonely (Adele doesn’t have as many songs about female friendships breaking up as romantic ones). Rather than pin all your friendship requirements on one person, it’s much better to have many different friends and be aware of their strengths and limitations. With some you can tell all the details of your private life, with others you only have micro conversations about movies. It all comes together to form a kind of friendship board.
I love this idea, not only because the more friends the better (especially when planning a party), but it also takes the pressure off each other. More friends, less BFFs.
The season of the jumpsuit
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan have reunited for Neighbours. Photo: Channel 5/PA
It seems that July and August are turning into jumpsuit summer. Yesterday new photos of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan on the set of Neighbors were released, and Kylie is back as Charlene Mitchell in her mechanical overalls.
Probably the world’s biggest advocate for jumpsuits, presenter Anneka Rice is also back on British TV sets, making her favorite look bigger. She says a jumpsuit is the ultimate sexy ensemble for middle-aged women, although she admits that pants are more practical. “Easier to go to the toilet,” she says. A sobering realization that any person in a jumpsuit will come to when they have three drinks in a night out.