Once a phrase used to reference jetting off to some exotic - or at least warmer - location, I now chase the sun around my house.
In these times of lockdown, when the sun on your face is savoured like an expensive wine, I desperately follow the sun around my house during the day because the jewelled eyelashes, and warm toes and that oh so bright light are everything when it comes to keeping a calm mind and optimistic soul.
I start outside if warm enough, making the most of the morning rays before the inevitable shadow sweeps across our NE facing garden. I then decamp to the living room, sprawling across the floor as the carpet is alight from the squares of the windowpanes. From there, to the box room where the leather chair by the window absorbs the heat and warms the cockles. And finally to the kitchen, where the evening rays filter across the end of the dining table and where I perch until the sun inevitably disappears; finished for another day.
I follow the sun around the house as I read and write, make lists and stick photos in albums, bake and hum. I keep chasing the sun.
As the world stills, as others fight to keep us all going, there is bizarrely a sense of calm. My job is to stay at home, stay where it’s safe, to make it safer for those risking it all. To imagine days where the sun will feel unlimited once again, only this time I won’t take it for granted.
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