Summer

“If it could only be like this always – always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe and Aloysius in a good temper...”
― Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

In the ten days that I have been away, summer has really arrived in Istanbul. The tree by my flat is now so heavily laden with ripe red fruit the size of marbles that every bough is bending with the weight. I don't even know what kind of tree it is and I am sure that the fruit isn't edible - but it looks wonderful. The day was hot and sticky @ 28ºC with nearly 90% humidity making it very uncomfortable in the Art studio during a day spent marking final projects. All classes and exams are over now and students are done - just paperwork remains. A surprise birthday party for Margaret at Bizim Tepe at 4pm for a couple of hours and then this evening I joined friends for a fish supper on Konak Terrace against the beautiful backdrop of the Bosphorus.

Dad sounded really chipper when I called. He'd had a good day with Inga.