Siobhan Bahl offers her summer hopes in line with the government’s road-map out of lockdown.
Warmer, longer days. Sitting watching the light fade and the sun sink down in orange and golden hues. A few beers, a few friends and the BBQ embers lightly smoking.
I think the successive lockdowns have taught us all that the little things in life can sometimes be the most precious and memorable. Above all else, I want to sit, dance and chat with my friends late into the night. Thinking of doing anything else seems a little daunting right now, for so long all we’ve known is what we cannot do, and now there’s the possibility of having a list of things we can do. There’s a temptation to rush and book flights to whisk myself away to the blue waters of a Grecian island or the sunny coast of Spain. But, I can’t bring myself to mentally check into that paradisical seaside villa with the remaining uncertainty around travel restrictions just yet.
So, where will you find me on a warm summers day I hear you ask? I have one very British answer, the pub. I’ll be sitting in the beer garden tucked around the back of the local. Crammed into a corner or pushing through the crowds rammed against the bar to get the next round in.
Stumbling home afterwards, giggling, speaking unnecessarily excitedly and loudly with my friends. Laughing so hard I double over when one trips and falls.
It is moments like these I can’t wait for. Because, wrapped up in the moment we will forget that once we stood socially distanced apart, that we backed off from others on the street and in shops and that the only social activity we had was walking to get a takeaway coffee and back.
