Winding roads

The work I have been assigned to do isn’t all that bad. I am knee-deep and bare feet in water, wearing shorts and a bikini top, my skin glowing with sunscreen, sunglasses on. I have had worse jobs.

Meanwhile my dad is the one with the hardest job. He is watching me, sitting on a chair. I know him : he’d much prefer to be next to me, doing some physical labor but his body tells him to slow down. I ordered him to sit and rest.

Of course he is bored. He is not the kind to sit still, and watching someone work is not really exciting. He suggests we go out for lunch.

We go to this place that must be very popular in summer. Swimming pool, tables on one side, lounge and beach chairs on the other. Full of parasols to keep the sun at bay. I already imagine the multitude of scarcely dressed tanned bodies all over the place, accompanied with loud lounge music.

But not now. It’s only spring. It’s calm. The food is OK. The view up in the sky on the other hand, is absolutely spectacular.

It is cloudy, and the grey sky looks like it has been painted dark by a painter with only a few brush strokes. It looks unreal, outlandish. I check my phone for thunderstorms ; now and the the lightning app ion my watch taps my arm, but it’s too far off, far behind the mountains.

I can’t wait to get back to the house, to have an unobstructed view on the sky, but when we get there, all I see is blue, the clouds are behind me, behind the mountains. Disappointed I open my computer and start working. My watch keeps on tapping me but I don’t bother checking my phone anymore. But then I hear a thunderclap, far off, but still, it was there, I look up. The sky in front of me is still blue, but something’s definitely happening behind the mountains.

I grab my camera and car keys and drive off. I take the scenic route inland. This narrow winding road going up and down, flanked by trees, with now and then a see through view over the mountains and the fields with mimosa and olive trees. Less and less houses. More and more green. The top is down, the wind blows through my hair. Music loud. Heaven.

Up and down, left and right.

The sky is dark grey, but nothing compared to what I saw in the restaurant. That moment has passed. Far off in the mountains, it is pouring, but I don’t get to a good view where it safe to stop. Maybe behind the next curve. Or the next. Maybe the next one. I keep on driving. And when I finally find a great spot, I realise that my 35mm Leica can’t do it. Wrong lens!

For a moment I am frustrated. But then I realise why I am here. I didn’t come to work. I didn’t bring my gear for a reason. Let’s just chill. I should get back before my dad wakes up from his nap. I turn the car and drive back. The same winding road. Up and down, left and right. Wind in my hair. Music on.

Aaaahhhh ! What a delight!