Today was a busy day – a Saturday.
I’d spoken to my Dad, I’d been for a walk, I’d done some writing, I’d been trying to clean the roof terrace (Bloody seagulls! Big ones as far as I can tell!), I’d organised a business meeting for Monday (well, a meeting anyway – whether it leads to anything is another matter!) and now it was 4:30pm – and I was hot.
Very hot.
Even though I’d kept the shutters closed downstairs, which normally keeps everything nice and cool, I’d had to put the Air Con on for a little bit during the afternoon.
It’s only the second time this year, so to date, my electricity bills haven’t been too bad. But the way the weather is at the moment, I can’t see that lasting!
Anyway, I was hot. I’d been up on the roof working and there’s no Air Con up there!
So what were my options now?
Sit in the lounge and switch the Air Con on once more? No chance! I’d be sweating all over the sofa!
Have a cold beer? No, I was steering clear of the beer for a few days. My body needed a rest after our Wednesday lunch.
Have a cold shower. Mmmm… it was an option, but there was a better one:
Go for a swim! Hopefully…
I’m still not sure what the rules are concerning the beach. I’ve heard rumours of a traffic light system coming into play, but only in June: green for ‘The beach is open,’ amber for ‘It’s getting full’ and red for ‘Go away!’
I’ve heard rumours of an App that will tell you which beaches are available.
I’ve heard that nautical activities are allowed, and exercise on the beach too – as individuals. I think I’ve mentioned this before.
As for swimming? The only thing that I’ve heard is that in June, you will be allowed to go in the water as long as you stay 1.5m apart from each other. I’m not sure how that will work for Mums with young kids, but anyway, I’m sure they’ll work something out.
All this information had still left me wondering: was I actually allowed to go for a swim in the sea now?
Who bloody knows?
As far as I was concerned today, the only option was the ‘suck it and see’ approach – ie put my swimming gear on and head to the beach to see what was happening.
So that’s what I did. I got ready and headed to the beach.
As I walked along the road, I saw that the quayside restaurants were buzzing. Every table was full, and not a mask in sight, apart from on the staff – a legal requirement I presume.
As I got closer to the beach, there were more people wandering around and the quayside bars looked as if they were doing OK. They weren’t as full as the restaurants, but were still probably 75% full.
Blimey! Five days out of the ‘State of Calamity’ and things were looking up!
The closer I got to the beach, the more parked cars I saw. The more parked cars I saw, the more people I saw. However, as I headed past the ‘Clube Naval da Fuzeta’ I was still only expecting to see a couple of umbrellas on the beach and a few people, but I actually saw…
Well, what did I see exactly? It was like that song: ‘Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree…’
Blimey! The beach was covered in beach brollies! Not as many as in August maybe, but bloody hell! There were loads!
And better still, there were lots of people in the water: some paddling, some playing, some floating, and a couple even swimming!
I’d sucked it, I’d seen and I was sold!
I was in!
I headed on to the beach.
I took my towel out of my bag, placed my bag on the ground, my flops next to it and then placed my towel on top. I turned and with a smile on my face, stepped into the water, slipping slowly deeper, and then I dived under.
I’d been hot, and in an instant I was cool.
I just bloody loved it!
I swam for a bit, floated for a bit, and then headed back to my towel.
And that’s it really.
It seems that, on the whole, life is back to normal here – for now at least.
I wandered back to the house, washing my feet on the slipway as I went (without a heart-stopping mishap this time), said hello to Ana, my Brazilian friend who works at ‘A Lota’, and made it home.
It all sounds as though the day was rather boring, I know. But, apart from the fact that I’m here on my own without Sue and Lexi, it was almost the perfect day…