New beginnings and memorable summers

Many moons ago, a dear friend was going through a rough time and she said to me “ I just want a memorable summer, you know the ones we had as kids, that seemed to last forever and every day was filled with fun”. She sent me a card with nothing else written on it but “here is to new beginnings and memorable summers.” And it is funny how more than 10 years on, that saying rings true for me more now than perhaps it did back then. I knew there was a reason I kept that card, and that the memory was neatly tucked away in my storehouse for later use. I feel like I have just had one of those summers, filled with memories and moments that will stay with me a life time. And I also feel like it is new beginning.  

Summer in Goa could not have been more idyllic -  beautiful weather, beautiful food and beautiful company. Memorable in so many ways. And whilst it may not be the summers I remember as a child, it was filled with sunsets that take your breath away, people that make you smile so much it hurts, and food that is so delicious you want to lick your plate. I treated it like a holiday, strange I know as I am technically on a permanent holiday. But I took the chance to live in a world of what used to be “normal” for me – not worrying about what I was spending, staying in places that had running water and a toilet, and eating in some of the best restaurants. A perfect summer. 

Now I am sitting in my new little “home” in Mcleod Ganj – a place that keeps drawing me back. It is raining outside, there is no power, but I can see my familiar snow capped mountain, I have a steaming cup of tea (I made myself in my own kitchen) and I even had my first dinner guest last night – things could not be better. I have found a great little studio apartment that will be home for the next 3 months.  So new beginnings.  And last week, my beautiful sister gave birth to a little boy. What more screams new beginnings than the birth of a baby. It really is all about memorable summers and new beginnings in more ways than one for me right now.

Introducing Cooper James :)