Tuesday, August 12, 2008

All Summer Long

I can't wait till October. I even found myself saying it yesterday. What on Earth was I thinking? Well I know what I was thinking. Having been up and out early to do the hotel rounds (if it was Monday it had to be Can Picafort) and having been doing much the same for God knows how many weeks, I thought - jeez, I could do with it being October. You what. Why would you wish the summer away? There are, after all, worse things that I could be doing than visiting hotels and tourist offices and rent-a-car offices and golf clubs and shops and ... and and and ... across the northern zone - oh and the airport. Worse things like running a bar. Now that can be tough. And it is in bars that you most often hear the bring-on-October refrain. The wish falls into two categories - we're so busy, we're knackered or the season's been rubbish, can't wait for it to end. On balance I guess most would opt for the former. If it's the latter, don't go wishing too swift an end to this season - there's next year to come yet. Then there are also those who want the more moderate weather of October (save for the tornadoes if this one is like the last) because it's been and is too hot. I don't quite get this one. Why are people living here? Isn't heat a part of the whole deal?

October does start to loom in the mind around this time in August. It may well still be high summer with temperatures due to be nudging the 100 mark again today, the beaches and the poolsides may well be packed, but the middle of August brings with it a psychological shift. For some it is that the end is in sight, albeit that the season is effectively still less than two-thirds through; for others it is the realisation that it (summer) is going to peter out in the not too distant future. Whatever one says, one lives for the summer. Back at the start of June for instance, the summer seems infinite. Time plays strange tricks with the mind. Now there are but three weeks till September; September that feels like the leftovers after the meal. Winter is not far away. This psychology is of course the same elsewhere, but for somewhere that lives for summer it is accentuated. And this year there is the concern that the looming winter will be harsh - not necessarily in terms of the weather but from the point of view of mere living. The summer may have been difficult for many; winter will be even more so. It is rare, but this season staff have been laid off by businesses sustained by tourism. The cycle of economic difficulty only speeds up during winter. For some, it is a question of how can they survive; what will they have to live on. And they will be willing the return of summer, but willing a return, one fears, with little confidence.


MARKETS
Following on from yesterday, I have to hold my hand up and say that I got it wrong. The "market" in the paseo is not a market at all; it is just things like kids' "workshops". I really must not trust to reports and town-hall handouts. Like the chill-out zone on the beach, far better to check it out personally. Should have known better. Anyway, it doesn't change the basic idea of yesterday's piece but I have re-written the end so as to reflect better what actually is going on. Apologies for that.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Kooks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yCvYA3t6Mc). Today's title - personally I can't understand why this is such a big hit.

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