As we all know, Wednesday is windsurf day (it seems I live my life by alliteration), but yesterday there wasn't any wind, so I would say it was just surfing day, but that would also be a lie as the VERY NATURE of the midlands means they are in the middle of the land, and therefore waves are not ample. Rather, therefore, it was a day of drifting slowly downwind, jumping off boards into scummy water and generally trying to look like we were having more fun than the sailors, so all in all a highly rewarding, productive and strenuous session. Somewhere there's a video of me doing a headstand on a board and then crumpling onto myself, so look out for that if you ever need to feel better about your own gymnastic skills.
What the world lacked in wind, however, it more than made up for in sun, so my face is now a shiny beacon of warning to all comrades on the ginger spectrum: don't think you won't burn because it is England in May - you SHALL sizzle and you SHALL look like a polished balloon.
To max out this rare gift of 23 degrees, we had a rather large scale BBQ (I'm using the abbreviation as I actually don't know how to spell the real word and I don't want to have to face the shame of being beaten by my mac with its accusatory red underlining that boasts 'yes I am an aesthetically pleasing white box that more intelligent than you. And yes, I can see you using google to spellcheck) in our loosely titled 'garden' (in reality, an angular paved area with weeds pretending to be real grass containing three road signs and two Tesco trolleys), and swore to gorge until we could gorge no more. I was still windsurfing for the provisions shop, so my homies were in charge and they did nothing less than a MARVELLOUS job. We had a combo of real burgers and bean burgers, corn on the cob, the standard yet crucial baps and ketchup, (get this) red peppers roasted with feta and basil, cous cous and cider mmmmm it was so good. So good, in fact, that I had to pause to have a little moment of reflection / mourning as the meal I am going to eat tonight is going to be comparatively grim (my fridge contains some coconut yog and a mushroom...might have to be pasta again) just then.
The summer tunes we had on repeat in the background consisted of many classics such as Mia ya heee (formally known as Dragostea Din Tei, google tells me) by O-Zone, The Summer by Josh Pyke, the entire Sigh No More Mumford and Sons album, Ben Howard's These Waters and also his Every Kingdom - all safe bets for public gatherings. My own personal music taste tends to be a bit more anti social as people generally turn off my iPod the moment it is plugged into the communal speakers, but I'm going to offer you Summer Breeze by Aphrodite and Kobo by Baka Beyond, try them out if you are in a tolerant mood, if not then best stick to the unfading faves as they definitely won't lose you any friends.
Summer = reading, so for the first flip flopped and possibly even barefooted steps into May, I recommend (just to butt in on myself with a bit of quality social advice...do make sure that you talk to people after the BBQ though, don't go straight from food to book - people might think you are reluctant to mingle and boring) THIS POEM by A.E.Housman


Loveliest of Trees

Loveliest of trees the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now of my three score years and ten,
twenty will not come again.
And take from seventy years a score, 
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom,
Fifty Springs is little room, 
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Nothing like mixing the ephemeral nature of the human existence with the image of a nice bit of foliage. Hattie just rang, and we're having a mini repeat of yesterday's BBQ with the left over bean burgers - the threat of coconut yogurt has gone!