Nothing New Under the Sun

^{My days (and nights) this week have still felt very much focused just on keeping doors and windows open or shut, balcony parasols up or down, various fans around the flat on or off, and myself in or out, active or passive, depending on 1/ the sun and heat, 2/ the possiblity of rain, and 3/ a neighbour's screeching bird, barking dog + loud phone conversations in some foreign language (on the balcony)... And someone - possibly not the same neighbour but another one also has a squeaky balcony door...}

^{These words from the book of Ecclesiastes keep coming to mind:}

⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.
 ^---
9 What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.

(from Ecclesiastes chapter 1 - New International Version)

I think it was on Monday we had warnings of thunder, hard winds and torrential rain. Not very much came of it, though. There were indeed one or two very strong gusts of wind in the afternoon - which made me haste to take in my outdoor flowering plants from the balcony over night. No thunder, though (that I heard), and the rain that followed was gentle, fell straight down, and soon evaporated again after hitting the ground.

Tuesday was Too Hot again, but also offered another light shower or two. I can't recall the details - it was also One Of Those Days (described above). I think that's when I took the photo of the leaf with the raindrops, though. (Which indicates that I must have gone out at some point. I think probably towards evening, after the rain...)

Just now, trying to check up on photo details, I accidentally managed to do THIS on my phone (just by pressing my finger on the photo):

(Okay. Maybe that counts as "something new"...??)

Where was I?!  Wednesday (yesterday) was sunny and too hot again, but I managed to get out for a short walk before noon. The afternoon was Laundry Day, but in between it was mostly quiet, so not too bad from that respect...

Today I woke up to overcast sky and lower temperatures, and was able to go for a refreshing rainy walk in the late morning, to the supermarket + pharmacy for a few things. Actually quite a lovely experience! Again it was the gentle kind of rain, and a rain jacket + umbrella was enough protection. (I also had to change my trousers when I got back in, but never mind. It was worth it!!)

All in all I've been staring at the TV quite a lot, but without much recollection of what I've been watching. I'm re-watching the classic series Friends on one of my cable channels in the evenings,though (two episodes per night) - that's about the right level for me at the moment, not requiring any effort to keep up with. Even on Kindle and Audio I've mostly been "re-reading" books too, rather than trying to get into something new.