a summery saturday
a morning run
I have started running again. I started earlier this year but I over-exerted myself and my body told me by inducing a period twice in one month. I was hesitant to start again and ended up waiting around two months to start up once more. I ran last Saturday for the first time since and it felt amazing, mainly because I found a new route that didn’t include Everest-like hills.
I found last week’s run too short so I devised a new route with C. This turned out to be way too long (and included a pesky hill we didn’t notice on Google Maps). Call me Goldilocks, I have yet to find the perfect running route. Maybe next week?
The last stretch of my run was downhill. I felt my strides elongate and my legs were filled with strength. I remember a girl’s voice from a video I stumbled on where she said that running was basically continuously stopping yourself from falling over on your face. It sounded a little dangerous at first but I suppose danger is one of those moments where life feels incredibly real. I leaned my torso forward ever so slightly and glided downhill. It felt effortless. Like I was one with the birds above me. Life felt incredibly real.
The little wooden gate to my building wasn’t far now but I almost wanted to keep going, down, down, down, flying. My 60 minutes of daily active time was well and truly met. I should probably turn left at the gate and drink some water when I get in.
A wonderful start to the day.
a shopping trip
After giving half of my wardrobe to charity, I realised I no longer had any long summer dresses. I simply must go shopping and buy some.
I found a new app called Good on You where you can type in any fashion brand and they rate it one to five on its ethics and environmental impact. I stood outside Next and remembered the app had given it a low rating. But this was a small shopping centre and I had already sworn off H&M for good, there weren’t many options left. I popped in, tried on two pairs of shorts and bought them both. I also requested a bag. The cashier pulled out a plastic bag. I felt like a terrible person.
I didn’t get what I was looking for and headed home. When I turned the corner to ring the bell to my building (I never carry my keys), one of our neighbours was sitting outside on the bench. “What did you buy from Next?” she asked excitedly. I learned it was her favourite shop. We had a longish chat under the sun as I performed a haul of the things I had bought (the aforementioned shorts and two lip glosses, one of which is horrid how do people shop for make-up). We always see our neighbours convene for chats and glasses of wine on this bench and I desperately want to be a part of it but the opportunity never arises. My time was finally here. I will reuse that plastic bag to death as penance.
Make a good impression. Don’t say something weird.
We ended our conversation with her letting me borrow a catalogue from a retailer she likes a lot that she gets every month. How sweet? I had never experienced friendly, chatty neighbours like this before. I wonder what the world would look like if we all decided to become friendly, chatty neighbours.
a walk among the bees
I love nature probably a little more than the next gal but I bloody hate insects. I love what they do for our planet but I wish they wouldn’t tell me so loudly in my ear or my face or while crawling on my legs.
After I got back from my shopping trip and had some lunch, it was still a beautiful day outside and even though I had already spent half the day out, I still felt like I was missing out. That’s the tricky thing about summer, those shimmering leaves and blue skies are so inviting and tempting, that it would be a sin to let a day like that simply pass you by. And how awful you’ll feel if you do.
I packed my Daunt Books tote with a book and my Kindle (naturally), a ball of yarn attached to my current project, my glasses, my purse, my phone and no bottle of water. We jumped in the car (passing essentially all members of our building sitting on the bench chatting, god dammit invite me) and made our way to a country park we were told was nearby but wasn’t nearby at all.
Instead of finding somewhere to sit to lay our non-picnic blanket down and soak up the last drops of warmth in the air, we walked and walked, me racking up another couple thousand steps on my smartwatch. I already thought about how much I would not move on Sunday.
The bees, flies and other tiny winged insects seemed to follow us the entire time, a low humming sound filled our ears in the gaps in our conversation. We hugged in the middle of a vast field. Not a sound of civilisation for miles. I felt good.
We ended the day quietly with dinner together and then easy watches, me with some housewife drama on the television, him with video game playthroughs on the laptop.
The weather seems to be cooling down for the next week or so. I’ll keep an eye out for temperatures in the 20s again so I can have more summery days like these, the kind I wait all year for, every year.
Hello hello
As mentioned in my post on Tuesday, I’m going to start posting a bit more with regular essays on Tuesdays and other more creative pieces randomly throughout the week. I loved writing this!
I can start to feel the pressure that comes along with gaining subscribers and thoughts are creeping up about writing what I think other people will like instead of what I like, so these types of posts are to combat just that. When I said I’m “treating Substack like instagram, twitter, my personal diary, a photo album and my source of entertainment”, I meant it.
I hope you liked this, and I hope you’re having a wonderfully chill Sunday <3
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This was such a cozy read!
It felt nice reading about your summer days filled with content. Looking forward for Tuesday's essay