Winter is Coming

No, this is not an episode of the Game of Thrones, I am merely stating a fact. As I sit at my dining table looking out the window I can sense the doom and gloom. The sky is a pallid grey, the young trees that had been planted in the winter of 2012 on our street are quivering and shaking before the wind that threatens to cut short their spring, the young man braves the chill with a cup of vending machine coffee in hand, donning the hood of his red jacket as he walks away
My late breakfast of blueberry yogurt and müsli now seems inadequate, the heart desires warm pancakes, but I still have some coffee in the thermos left to take the edge off. 
Generally, I should not be complaining, it has been pretty mild here till today,  it has rained everyday for the last 2 weeks, yes, but the temperatures had been warm enough. This city gets very little to no snow in winters, but it is not a very inspiring winter. If it is going to get cold, I may as well have some snow, no wait, what the hell am I talking about ? With the entire city dug up and under construction snow is going to be a terrible idea- mixed with dust and mud and construction material, no, let’s scrap snow from the agenda.
I shall brave out this winter like every other winter, basking in the glow of a summer well spent, loving and being loved by the crown jewels of our royal family, my 2 year old niece and a brand new 4 month old nephew. The nephew who loves being sung and talked to and the niece who has a particular disposition of being goofy and naughty in the most charming way possible.
I realized that I have to keep this last summer well chronicled for I do not want to forget the times spent with the kids, who happen to grow up so fast that already the timeline of funny incidents and moments are starting to blur. And don’t get me wrong, the babies are great but the times my sister and I spent sans babies were hilarious… checking out chic restaurants, drinking before noon, pretending to have sex and the city moments with outdoor seating, olive branches and bougainvillea blooming around us and Mercedes convertibles parked at the street corners, realizing that it is so overrated when the wasps/bees will not hesitate to paralyze you for the entire duration of your meal. Watching 2 hour movies stretched over a few days, eating amazing fresh pasta every evening for dinner and countless ice cream outings to cover for the entire year; wildberry lavender has spoilt me for any other ice cream/gelato in Germany, perhaps, I need a trip to Rome to renew my faith in gelato. The account of the summer shall not be complete without mentioning the absolutely heavenly shopping spree we went on avec babies, while one held the baby the other tried on clothes, beautiful, shimmering, life assuring apparel. The shoes and bags have been reserved for another summer.
An overnight trip with the babies that was incredible, challenging and love inducing all at the same time. A particularly memorable moment was when my sister went to meet her advisor and my niece was with me on the stroller fast asleep, I sat in the rest area of a museum a little apprehensive about how she would react if she woke up in a strange place with mummy not around, but when she did eventually wake up and I unstrapped her from the stroller to pick her up there was no sign of worry on her face, we sat together cuddling and indulging in #selfies till mummy was back.
The farmers’ market, local coffee bars, fresh made mini donuts, my niece’s equally edible face coated with sugar from the donuts, late American brunches and fried chicken, express wine tasting at Whole Foods Market rendering us (mostly my brother in law and I) completely drunk and giggly and not to forget the birthday party of the year for the diva aka my niece entailing the kids having a great time, the adults getting some much needed alcohol and the most delicious and beautiful cake.

It was a summer one wouldn't want to forget, reliving it over and over in one’s mind to stoke the fire, to surpass the winter, to get over the gloom, to love life as it is. 

Comments

Samraghni said…
Oh, I love this! On a cold day, with an equally bad cold and headache, this warmed me up considerably. Much love.
October 25, 2014 at 2:03 PM
Deepanjana said…
I am glad it had the desired effect :) waiting to read some of your bizarre and beautiful experiences in Yorkshire!
November 4, 2014 at 3:57 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Benimadhab Benimadhab

Never in my worst nightmares have I ever imagined writing anything titled "Benimadhab Benimadhab". Bengalis who listen to modern bengali music must have already guessed what this could be about but I have a story to share. Didibhai used to listen to a lot of music, especially the radio back in the late 1990s. So naturally I had to listen to a lot of music she liked. She was the one to introduce me to all kinds of music that I associate my memories with. I never quite liked the bengali songs she would listen to. Anjan Dutta and Suman and Nachiketa, the cult music of the time. I was too young to appreciate it, I never understood what they were singing about. Today I can appreciate them even if they aren't my preferred choice of music and I believe not my didibhai's either. It has been more than a decade since Lopamudra's famous song Benimadhab aired for the first time on FM. Didibhai bought the cassette but I failed to understand why such a funny old-fashioned name ...
Read more

And when white moths were on the wing

The best thing about good movies are that no matter how many times you watch them there's always something new that you had not noticed the previous times. It's like peeling an onion only much more pleasant. This time it's The Bridges of Madison County : Robert and Francesca discuss Yates and a while later Francesca goes and pastes a note on the side of the bridge, I could never read what was written on the note because it fades away to quickly. This time I paused to read it, it had a quote from The Song of Wandering Aengus. Aengus is an Irish Mythic character and "probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration" and Robert Kincaid is of Irish descent. I think there was a connection made with that poetry and the story of Kincaid. He is an old man and finally found the woman he has dreamt of all his life, tired of all the wandering a being a "citizen of the world" he wants to settle down with this woman but he can't have her. It's a beautif...
Read more

Je ne sais quoi

There are times when dark clouds loom over one's head and the world seems like a big bad place to be in, one might even wish that it would be all over, the world would come to an end as he/she knows it. There are emotions one can feel that have no name. Moments of great joy and prospect of  something may  transform into feelings of bitter disappointment and hopelessness. Sometimes, when one is too deep into it,there are moments when one can feel trapped and liberated all at once followed by numbness and stillness. Things can sometimes seem to move so fast that it gets hard to breath, and at other times in slow motion when you just want the moment to pass by in stead of dragging on.  Talking about it never translates the gravity of the situation, but it will make one wiser when one hears the words tumbling out of his/her mouth with no restraint, or one can hope to be. Human capacity to feel and over-feel, think and over-think is immense, it is what gives shape to lan...
Read more