“Can you feel it?” Remi asked. We were standing in our courtyard with glasses of wine in hand at the end of the day and faces turned upwards. Because we can often read each others thoughts, I knew what he meant. “Um-hmm,” I responded. The shift had already started to occur.
August 15th is a holiday for the L’Assomption de Marie in France, just as in Italy it is the Ferragosto. In Provence, the date holds a more practical meaning – the end of the big vacation period when the highways are declared a “journée noir” with traffic jams that can stretch out over hundreds of kilometers, an event which is usually accompanied by a change in temperature. Often it is then that the big storms will roll in as if to thunder-clap proclaim, “L’été est bientôt fini! It is time for you all to go back to your workaday lives!”
But these photos were taken before, right when the season was at its zenith.
Remi wanted to retrace some of our favorite spots here in the Alpilles for a project that he is working on (that I will tell you about soon) and asked if I wanted to come along. Especially as it was predicted to be yet another day when the temperatures were expected to reach 100°F, the prospect of seeing beautiful scenery while ensconced in the only air-conditioning available (our car), I responded with a cheerful, “Yes, but let’s take the boys too.” I think that by that point, we all were a little tired of being closed up, literally, in our shuttered home in retreat from the spindly heat, a little outing would do us good.
I was right. I love our Provence.
The light was slicing bright and the air so dry that it seemed to hover slightly over the parched yellow grasses. The sky was too blue, also just out of reach and we all felt the need to retreat into patches of shade from time to time. A deserved break from the zig-zag lines of a brash summer day.
I was shooting blind, unable to see my camera’s reflections, aided by Remi’s estimates about what my settings should be. And so these photos all look too stark to me – slightly unreal – and just as I have been longing for relief from the heat, so too am I ready for a little kindness on the eyes.
Happily, it is here. Or the promise of it is. August 15th did not let us down this year and that shift that we sensed is upon us, leaving us scrambling to bring in the cushions during a surprise evening rain yesterday and shifting our timing so as to get back from the garden before nightfall falling faster. Sunsets have returned. I feel like I can think again but have loved these languorous last days.
Instead of the song of the cigales, I can now just barely discern a quiet ticking of time numbered.
It is quite something, our connections to the seasons, isn’t it? Apparently, our clocks are not so internal after all.
Mixed emotions the change of seasons brings as we are concluding one of the warmest, sunniest summers ever recorded in Seattle (but of course have had way too many deadly wild fires across the state as a result as well) but with the change of seasons means a return to the new chapter of our lives in Greece; a beginning and an end but that is the way of all seasons, isn't it?
Beautiful! 🙂
Hmmm, but your situation is different, Sister. I hear you about being sad that summer is over. And I am sending you a big hug. I love you so much!
Thanks for sharing your incredibly beautiful corner of the world with your readers too Lorrie! 🙂
And yes, I see those tired tree tops here too…One big pumpkin growing in the community garden. Unfortunately, not ours!
Yes, summer ending can be a relief from the heat but it makes me sad! I think this is because it means that David is back to his school schedule AND that the hellacious winter is that much closer! But these are pessimistic views – live for today, hello??? And today we're having a super cool day after a brutally hot one yesterday – it's only 70! Loved seeing the photos – the pups hiding in the shade and the blue blues – and how funny to think that a car ride would be a treat for the air conditioner!! Yes, fall is so nice – best to remember that and welcome it!
It's coming. The tree tops here show a tired green, protesting against the sun, too tired any longer to make chlorophyll. Pumpkins and squash grow fat and orange. We're in the in-between season. Savoring summer and anticipating autumn.
What a great outing you had. Thanks for sharing Provence with us.
Ah to finally be able to sleep without the loud drone of the fan!! It is great isn't it? And I love the earlier nightfall too…
Yes, I can feel it….the heat and the todos atmosphere and also the start of the end of the summer. Also much deeper in the south we notice the nightfall is coming sooner already and we enjoy the pleasant nights either on
the terrace or in the bedroom, which was not possible a week ago. I really looking forward to the autumn.
The fires were on the news last night here, Edgar. I didn't catch as to where they are but I am hoping that you and yours remain safe and sound. Our poor Earth…
Oh how funny. Actually, we ended up stopping at a boulangerie for quiche and sandwiches (plus extra water for us and the boys) and taking it to our favorite place -the one we call "La Vallée Secret"!