A Hot Afternoon at Maumulon

It's 1600 hours. John and Sue have taken Sue's Mother to the airport at La Rochelle for her plane back to Edinburgh. I will be alone until late this evening. The temperature on the terrace in the shade is 39.5 deg c. It's hot. In fact it's so hot that you can hear the heat because the silence is palpable. There is no bird song. There are no crickets. There is no zephyr to move the leaves. The air hangs heavily over the garden. The occasional insect comes too near and sounds like an aeroplane in one's ear breaking the silence as it breaks the thick air. Until now the day has been hot but pleasant but all of a sudden every movement causes perspiration and even just sitting outside will ensure potential de-hydration if one is not careful.

Within the last half hour as the air has got thicker by the minute the brilliant uninterupted blue sky of the last few days has begun to be veiled by a sort of high mist. I suppose it's cloud but it's so hazy and bright it's difficult to think of it as such. One thing is certain: it is encapsulating the heat and moisture and thickening the air even more.

All this will break tonight as the rains come and the thunderstorms rattle around the area.

In the meantime, having cooled down in the salon to write this posting, I shall sit by the pool and read and cool down every so often by going into the water which, at 27 deg, feels absolutely freezing until one has swum around for a few minutes.

Life's not so bad really.