Izzy Muses

There is just a hint of early summer in the air as we embark on the merry month of May. The call of the countryside is strong and the long days of summer are almost here – days that are made for lying on the flat of your back, Huck Finn style, sucking on a blade of grass and watching the clouds chase each other across the sky. When, but in our early teens, do we have the time to pursue such pleasures? And what joy to live in a rural landscape, close to the sea and be able to take time out from raging adolescent hormones and enjoy all the wonders that the natural world has to offer. This week two young ladies from my extended family have set me musing on that wonderful time when we are ready to embrace a little independence but not yet old enough for life’s responsibilities. As they move into their final few weeks of primary school and a summer of hope and expectation – a summer they will spend cycling to and from the beach, mucking about with friends, trudging the fields and working on their tans or fake tans, my heart fills with joy for them. As they revel in their new-found seniority and independence, may they find wonder and happiness over the coming weeks, may their summer be filled with laughter and friends and may they enjoy and remember these wonderful days before they take their first step on to the post-primary ladder in the autumn.