summer after all
Wednesday July 26th 2006, 12:01 pm
Filed under: blogging

The lunch crowd are lazying around the library. On the steps. Beneath the portico. By the tram. They’re sucking down iced lollies in Exchange Square and £8 cocktails up and down Deansgate. Diners drink and don’t eat under umbrellas and open sky.

I want sun blushed tomatoes. Crusty bread. Balsamic and olive oil to dip it all in. But it’s too hot to eat.

I down cold water and a plum. Plums are runny and sticky like the heat down my back. I don’t like Red Bull, but I have one anyway. Sugar free. To make up for my ‘just a plum’ lunch.

I want to sunbathe by the bit of wet on Bridgewater. Near the P&P. But I don’t like age on the face. Ninety odd degrees is good for that and I’m still young….but not that young.

If I were back home and ten, I’d wait until the sun went down and jump in the pool. The sun sets best this way. I’d float on my back until the sky got black.

But dad doesn’t have a pool anymore. And I’m not ten.

So I’ll go back to my apartment with no air conditioning, because 200 year old buildings aren’t made that way, and I’ll sweat.

Manchester Library


28 Comments so far
Leave a comment

Yep, you definately need to find someone with a pool. As usual, I love the way you write.

Comment by Popeye 07.26.06 @ 1:43 pm

I just read your 25 Things About Me list, and I had to tell you - small holes close together scare me, too! When I see them, I get all shuddery and want to throw up. I don’t know why. One of those mysterious things. Anyway, you have a lovely blog.

Comment by Jane 07.26.06 @ 4:19 pm

i heart london…but i NEED air conditioning.

Comment by amanda 07.26.06 @ 5:23 pm

Oh nostalgia. I remember that feeling from when I was living in Britain–I used to spend a lot of time in the museums to cool off…

Comment by Ryane 07.26.06 @ 6:41 pm

3 pound coctails?? I picked the wrong vacation spot

Comment by CeCe 07.26.06 @ 7:08 pm

Would it be ok if I linked to you from my blog?

Comment by Jane 07.26.06 @ 7:10 pm

Mm, London is one of my favorite places to be, but I’m far too spoiled by central air to visit in the summer!

Comment by Bre 07.26.06 @ 7:17 pm

You do nice work too - and you have an admiring cadre of like-minded readers-writers. Pub Marketplace, eh? I confess I am a bit tired of it anymore, but I can’t relinquish the habit of its Deals reports. Stay cool. It’s easy to find $7-$10 cocktails in this town - as we know.

Comment by holly hodder 07.26.06 @ 7:26 pm

i really liked this one….maybe because it sounds so appealing from inside my 4×4 cubicle in stale airconditioning on 5th floor of anywhere, corporate america.

Comment by Sarah 07.26.06 @ 8:09 pm

But 200 year old buildings feed your soul with their charactor and charm. And, sweating cleanses your body of toxins and keeps you from wrinkling.

If you gotta sweat, we must find the good in it! And I am out on my porch, sweating as I write, with a glass of red (over ice!!!!) So, I’m feeling it with you!

Comment by Hattigrace 07.26.06 @ 11:38 pm

“sun blushed tomatoes. Crusty bread. Balsamic and olive oil to dip it all in …” yum. of course I am TRYING to control the bread intake. I hate it!
But a lovely post none the less :O)

Comment by mamak 07.27.06 @ 4:18 am

I’ve only been to London once, for only a few precious hours–but reading your blog makes me want to go back and experience the nuances and flavors of that grand city!

Comment by Cleo 07.27.06 @ 5:05 am

Here in south Texas I think I would die without air-conditioning.

By the way, you are right about sun and wrinkles. Good thinking.

Comment by gary 07.27.06 @ 5:38 am

I can’t wait to see how you do when you are back home next summer….lol

Comment by Stephanie 07.27.06 @ 9:15 am

I feel bad saying that I am cold most often, because I live in a basement, in a house with air-conditioning. (Don’t throw things at me.) ; )

I still sleep with a fan, though, no matter how cold it gets. I love the sound of the fan. It reminds me of hot summers and no air-conditioning, falling asleep with my babycarrot sister in the room we once shared.

Comment by kerri anne 07.27.06 @ 11:55 am

I am SO loving your blog! For those of us in the States that have never been to London, your writing makes us feel like we’re right there with you!!

Comment by Suzie 07.27.06 @ 3:22 pm

It has been extremely hot in many different parts of the world this summer. I know Chicago had mini-heat wave. But no air conditioning? I don’t know how you could do it.

Comment by Brittany 07.27.06 @ 5:53 pm

Sounds like the weather and atmosphere here, but you write it better ;-)

Comment by LisaBinDaCity 07.27.06 @ 5:55 pm

I love the word ice lollies! Much better than just saying popsicle…

Comment by David 07.28.06 @ 12:15 am

Hey, Buffy… you left a comment on my blog ages ago, and I kept meaning to check you out… and I’m ever so glad I did! Awesome blog, wonderful style. Love it. I added you to my list of links.

I’ll be back.

(Oh, and I feel your pain about the heat. I have a window air conditioner in my living room, and have dragged my mattress out of my bedroom so I can sleep right in front of it.)

Comment by jess 07.28.06 @ 2:31 am

I like your style! *Grin*

Comment by Mrs. House Mouse 07.28.06 @ 11:20 am

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I see that I will be reading lots of yours. Have to be off right now, but i’ll be back. Thanks.

Comment by Beverly 07.28.06 @ 12:52 pm

How’s London dear? haven’t read the site in a while.. But will have free time soon!! Yeah!!

Comment by Tanisha 07.28.06 @ 2:14 pm

I like the way you write. It’s easy to read and the words are easily pictured.

Thanks for leaving a message on my blog.

Comment by Marsha 07.28.06 @ 2:34 pm

Thank you so much for stopping by my “Menopausal Mamas” blog site and leaving a comment…so nice to have a new visitor, especially one brave enough to leave a comment! :-) I also have an everyday blog if you’d ever care to stop by and visit there, too. I’ll include a link. I have many blog/email friends in the UK and I know you “across the pond” have been sweltering under horrific temperatures this summer, too. I survive by having a constant glass of ice cubes nearby, haha! Have a great weekend, Buffy!

www.misskris2005.bravejournal.com

Comment by MissKris 07.28.06 @ 2:49 pm

Grew up in Orlando, Florida, was always hot, very tropical. Dad put a window a/c in the living room about 1956. Bedrooms were still hot.

Moved out on my own 1965, kept a cold house from that day on.

Sorry you don’t have a/c, it pains me to think about that.

Comment by tremendoustim 07.28.06 @ 10:52 pm

[…] Buffy of Plain Simple English, and how hot she is in her 200-year-old building across the pond. […]

Pingback by Ballpoint Wren » Super Sabado: Finally, some relief! 07.29.06 @ 8:13 pm

We are having such a heat wave in NYC right now you would literally DIE if you had no A/C!

Comment by Flora 08.03.06 @ 8:11 pm



Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)