Bring back the Parasol

Have you seen the pictures of foreign tourists relayed from countries in Southern Europe? Temperatures are so high in Athens that The Acropolis has been temporarily closed and visitors are visibly flagging. People are crowding around water sources to replenish stocks; seeking refuge in areas of shade, or even holding umbrellas aloft to ward off the fierce sun. The parasol , once the possession of elegant Victorian and Edwardian ladies , and widely used in Japan over the centuries, where it is made of bamboo and proofed paper, is definitely making its return.

When I was growing up in fifties and sixties Britain, the notion of protecting oneself from the sun was largely unknown. Package holidays to Spanish resorts became popular, and resultant suntans were much sought after. I would spend every possible day of my summer holidays on the beach at Tynemouth , where all I took with me was the requisite navy swimming costume and a towel. I don't ever remember seeing a parasol , and if my legs were smeared in white it was from the salty sea, and not suncream. Moreover, when a family arrived at the beach they were much more likely to erect a wind break to protect themselves from the stiff sea breezes, as to worry about sun burn. But things are changing. A recent Guardian report from my favourite Tyneside beach talked of rising water temperatures. Nowhere, not even in the north east corner of England, can we escape the effects of climate change.

Nowadays parasols are a very common sight wherever people gather on a summer's day, be it on the beach or at the countryside. Here we erect them by the pool , or place them on the terrace so that visitors to our gite can avoid direct sunlight when they sit outdoors.

But parasols have their drawbacks. And here is why....

The earth turns and...

The wind blows.

Make yourself comfortable under a parasol , and before long the wind will stir and threaten to blow it over, especially here where we lie in the path of the Mistral or The Tramontane. Or for sure, just as you have reached an exciting passage in your book , you will realise that the shade has moved and you will have to readjust the parasol. If you are mobile an individual parasol to carry about is an elegant thing. But nature has an even better solution if you just want to relax in one place. I call it....

Nature's Parasol

(or better known as the tree.)

There are two fine ash trees growing close to our pool which cast a fine shadow for a large part of the day. Better than any parasol, they have offered us a cool and comforting place to sit for the past twenty or so years.

But alas all is not well. Look more closely and you will notice that these trees seem to be drawing their leaves in towards the trunk like one pulls ones clothes close on a chilly day. Look again, and you will see that some branches are dying. Our fine trees are suffering from ' ash die back' and will have to be felled.

Let this be a lesson to us...keep replanting trees. They are so so precious.