This beach umbrella marks much of the summer this year, except for BC – a lone forlorn Day at the Beach and then rain, storms, rain, cool winds, rain, and more …. cool rain. One would think the North American Tectonic Plate had transmogrified itself back to its ancestral home – England.
Now to be sure, people did come out when the Sun and warmth did – as this Beach shot testifies to. But the opportunities were mixed. The downside to this inverse Global Warming, besides the fact that Global Warming Doubters and Deniers were having many a field day to trumpet their distinctive message – “I told you so; and just wait and see what the Sun-spotless Winter is going to bring – the downside was that the moss and fungi on the back porch spread like wildfire.
However the upside was that people communed and commiserated together more. They not only took advantage of the week of really hot Summer days in mid-August by going to the beach and lounging around; but they also actively talked about the Bad Summer and the fleeting warmth. I know because I ear-dropped-in on not a few conversations [I know, breaking the Canadian photographers code, reveal no passionate social interaction].
But what I really liked was the audacity of it all down at the Beach. People were not beach, Beach, BEACHING. Quite the contrary – they not only turned out in droves but sported Beach Umbrellas in a variety of colors and designs. Above we see the National Colours And these were umbrellas that probably had not seen the light of day since last August. Though it must be said the Summer of 2008 granted Canadians two whole months of general sunshine, warmth, and real heat. Maybe it was a bit too much as Hazy was a big part of those halcyon Lazy Days.