The most beautiful day of summer

It is summer and morning is as beutiful as it can be. Under my arm, I hold a blue-striped pillow and a book I read every summer. The book has been waiting for me in the bookshelf of our cabin the whole winter. The hammock hangs between two rowans, the backdrop reveals

a shining lake. I place the pillow in the hammock. I climb into the hammock, taking care not the slip and fall on the path of ants passing by.

The hammock swings gently and I close my eyes for a minute. I can hear the swish of aspen leaves, the waves beating on the shore. A lovely summer breeze gives me goosebumps. When I open my eyes, I see my daughter carrying a blanket for me.

I wrap myself in the blanket and open the book. I am in a warm nest. Then I realize that with all the preparations for my summer ritual, I forgot to take out my sunglasses from the drawer. The white paper blinds me, and makes reading uncomfortable. Reluctantly, I leave my pod and run to the cabin to fetch my sunglasses.

Soon, everything is in order: the blanket, the book, the pillow, the sunglasses. A memory from last summer surfaces. In this exact same place, I delved into my book in the warmth of the sun, these same sunglasses covering my eyes, ants running up and down my neck…everything is in the right place…Except I cannot see anything!

Even an optician can have one of these days, when she is just getting acquainted with presbyopia – a condition that comes with age. The minute I get back to work, I need to update my sunglasses to varifocal lenses. This way I ensure that the next time I am greeted by a beautiful summer day, I can get up on the hammock, wrap myself in a blanket and above all, read my favorite book.

Pictures: Pixabay