It’s 5.30pm and I have arrived home to a warm evening and I am now sitting outside with the whoosh of the traffic going past at rush hour mingling with the bird song. Despite the traffic noise it’s peaceful and now the heat has gone from the day it leaves a cooling calm. I often find that I need to just sit and unwind when I get home. Failing that I can become rather grumpy (not pleasant!) No chance of that tonight though because it is so fantastic to be outdoors. To finish reading the paper from this morning and to sit smoking as the light dims and the insects swirl around on the miniature thermals that are illuminated by the shafts of light penetrating through the dense canopy of the sycamore. The decay of the day played out in front of me till I feel the need for warmth or a respite from the kissing midges.

The news is pretty grim for the most part and mainly revolves around the couple who lost their daughter in Portugal. The story goes on and on, did they or didn’t they? Everyone seems to have forgotten that the child is still missing. We seem to have been left with two possibilities for her disappearance and both are as awful as the other. It’s all become another media frenzy of speculation and none of it seems helpful. I am beginning to wonder why I even buy a paper anymore.

So I put the paper away and revel in the scent of the neighbour’s dinner wafting over the wall. It is something with a keynote of garlic onions and peppers...a Mediterranean aroma that accentuates the evening perfectly. Why I shall pour a glass of wine soon and sit here and just chill and pretend I am some coast overlooking the Med as the sun sinks low over the horizon. I shall forget all the problems of the world for a little while. Hope you are having a good evening.