Summer rain and memories.

I am sick of rain. Specifically rain that falls on me and makes me very wet. So the hair develops a life of its own and I end up looking like the wild woman of Borneo. You may detect a slight obsession with the weather. You would be right. I have just seen the weather forecast for the week and I am "happy" to relate that we will be having rain, rain, rain and yes, surprise surprise, that would be RAIN for the rest of the week. My attempts to look slightly chic are doomed. Drowned rat is more like it. It is just as well that I am not obsessed with image.

I have been looking at everyone's blog templates in the past few days, and I really must do something about mine. I want to be unique and different. I need a makeover. Well, everything about me needs a makeover, really. I just think the bloggy one is more reasonable to aim for. I will have to try playing about a bit. Yes, I know ...my daughter has already told me to save my template. I still have to work out how. I definitely need to be more techno-savvy. That can go on the "to do" list too.

It is summer, and the whole world seems to be on the move. My dear friend from Cape Town is here in England, Tessa is in Ireland, I will be off to NZ. Friends are off to France, Spain, South Africa, Bulgaria, Italy, Australia. Mum will be in Switzerland. My colleagues are off to Jamaica, Zimbabwe, South Africa. What a different world we live in. Mary is off to get her new daughters in Ethiopia, I hope. In this little blogging world, I wonder just how many miles (or kilometres) we will cover before the end of August. How many countries we will visit all together. How many new experiences we will have and how much we will learn about the places we see, and the people we meet. Just think... my grandfather never went in an aeroplane. He died in 1964. Ships??? Oh yes, he travelled widely, but slowly, in style. And we zoom all over the world at superfast speeds. Time is the important factor.

Maybe we need to choose to take a little more time to savour it all, and do a little less of the hurtling about. My grandparents had the right mix. They used to sail to the UK every two years on the old Union Castle mailboats. They had 2 weeks at sea to get here, then travelled around Europe for a couple of months, and then had another 2 weeks at sea going home, so arrived home rested and relaxed. It sounds perfect to me. I did the same trip with my parents and sister when I was 11. Two weeks at sea, about 3 months travelling round Europe, and 2 weeks at sea going home.

Having said that, being married to a career merchant navy officer meant that I did a great many sea trips over the years. So did my children. I remember times when we lay on the deck at the bow of the ship watching dolphins playing in the sea riding the bow wave. Or the flying fish. Or whales. Sitting with a book on deck, watching the horizon rise and fall as the ship sailed through the water. Not quite luxury liner style, but not far off. We made our own entertainment. I can think of a good few posts I could do about sea travel! Memories are good.