Day Dreaming of Wearing Swim Suits in Hot Climates
I love winter, I do. That said, a few days into this ultra-cold snap and all I can think about I how delicious it would be to slip into a bathing suit, walk along a sandy beach, and jump into the ocean.
My daydreaming gets rudely interrupted every time a door from the outside opens in the café I’m sitting in. Jeepers creepers that’s cold. Back to reality, it’s time for some real talk: do you ever fantasize about the opposite season while firmly, smack dab in the centre of the current one? In addition to wishing for summer in the winter, I know I’ve drooled over forthcoming ski slopes in the dog days of summer. Maybe it’s that old always-wanting-what-you-can’t-have theme that pops up in western culture now and then?
But let’s chat more about my beach fantasy shall we? Nay, it can be our hot weather “Grace and Frankie” companionship type fantasy.
How wonderful would it be to be somewhere where the birds are tweeting and water sprinklers are sprinkling in the early hours of the day?
Perhaps you or I wake from a slumber in all white bed linens to the sun beating in. You notice the birds; you hear those sprinklers. Maybe you – like me – decide to jump out of bed and get ready for your day in the sun.
First up, don’t forget to lather sunscreen from head to toe before putting on our swim suits, shall we?
Confession time: I have a marigold high waist and bandeau two-piece stunner that I have been saving since last March to wear. Last March! Long story short I purchased it off season with the intention of using Goldie the following fall. Early bird gets the worm kind of thinking. All summer long I did not wear it at the lake – no shade, but have you seen the green chunks of the Qu’Appelle Valley lake chains? – as I did not want to ruin it. Algae aside, there’s nothing quite like a snag from a wooden dock to ruin a brand new swim suit is a flash. Fashion danger lurks everywhere, prairie people. I will eventually wear it at the lake but not before it’s ran a few laps around luscious resorts. My cycle down rotation game is strong. When fall rolled around and the resort trip I had thought was going to happen didn’t happen, I thought about that golden beauty and the outings it didn’t have. Thus, I am sitting on it, still waiting for its inaugural debutant showing.
After the sunscreen is on and so it the marigold swim suit, I’d put on a colourful dress overtop, slip on leather slide sandals – not flip flops, those hurt my toes - and make my way to the closest coffee. What would you wear overtop of your suit? Shirt? Shorts? Poncho? Do you flip over flip flops?
Coffee in hand, let’s make our way over to the towel stand and grab a just-out-of-the-dryer freshly rolled terry cloth delight.
Because we are up early, we have our pick of chairs. Lucky us. Sure, we could sit by the pool, or at a café table, but let’s save something for later. No, I say let’s go to the beach and enjoy the hour or so we have before everyone else is up.
Towel is rolled out, we’re now draped over the chairs, and we luxuriate as the sun continues to rise and sparkle over the water. Soon enough its toasty enough to whip off those layers and let that swim suit take centre stage. Goldie: you’ve made it.
Would you tell me about the sand in your toes? Can you drill into what it exactly is about the wash of sunshine on your skin after a long winter that feels so euphoric? How divine is a nap in the shade of an umbrella? Does your nose freckle up, too, with a little au natural Vitamin D? Perhaps you get some gentle, non-cancerous tan lines?
Maybe your beach is in the Caribbean. Perhaps it’s across an ocean or two. Is your “beach” actually a pool instead? Maybe it’s on that Saskatchewan lake. Wherever it is, can we go there now please? Promise me that you’ll take me with you?
No?
Not yet?
Okay. I’ll crank the heat in my home, take that swim suit of out my carry on, and pretend I’m there already.
