The intense heat from the blistering sun is burning my skin as I make my way to the hospital car park. There is no shade here and my car is boiling hot as I open the door. It is five in the evening and yet there is no let down where the heat is concerned. Apart from the slight respite last weekend the dry spell is continuing. The grass has dried up and the farmers are using the stored winter hay to top up the cattle feed. They will struggle come the winter months. I read that autumn this year will be a dull brown affair as we need a healthy balance of sunshine and showers for the foliage to bring out their bright colours when the weather changes. The largest glacier in Sweden is melting at an alarming rate. The whole of Europe is suffering the consequences of an unprecedented heatwave.
There are times during the colder months when I look back and wonder how I felt during the summer months, the days when I didn’t have to lug around heavy coats to keep myself warm. I usually fail to remember the sensations. It is vital to capture important moments in life when they happen to remind ourselves how we felt at those particular moments. Like the moments I spent with Amma. It’s like a mental album that you create and can go back to when needed. A short period of mindfulness, being in the now and inwardly making a note of it.
This is something I realised a while back and was quite surprised when I found out that William Wordsworth described these moments as ‘spots in time’. ‘These precious moments, suspended in the amber of memory, were “spots in time” – happy recollections of times past that could dispel present sadness’.
I pick up Lakshmi after my spell at the gym. Another weekend of babysitting. I will be creating a lot of ‘spots in time’ this weekend. I don’t normally leaf through my old photo albums but my mental one will be filled with cherished images.
