Watching My Curtains Blowin' in the Wind

 

My living room curtains

The front of thunder and rain that broke the heat yesterday was followed by quite windy weather - but now combined with more refreshing lower temperatures. I was in for another hot and stuffy night last night, though - as with the winds blowing, and possibly also more rain and thunder, I did not dare keep any windows (or the balcony door) open over night.

This morning, it still did not feel safe to leave anything open if I went out. I decided that the best thing was probably to prioritise taking the opportunity of a good cross-draught to help getting the indoors temperature down - but stay in to supervise it. So that's what I did.

It was also too windy to leave the parasols up on my balcony; so it's been curtains closed, but balcony door wide open in the living room - with a blackout curtain covering that opening. Also a window in my study half open; and on the other side of the flat, one window ajar in the kitchen and another one in my bedroom. 

As for myself, I spent quite a large part of the day in my lounge chair just inside the balcony door - feeling the breeze blowing in... And the cooler air then being circulated further by three fans whirring in different places around the flat...  

It's normally only in the heat of summer that I keep curtains drawn all across the windows like this (on top of closed blinds) - and thus see the patterns on those properly. The ones in the living room (above) I bought when I moved in here, which will be 18 years ago in July. The colours may possibly have faded a little bit with time - but I think not much. Anyway, I still like them. I also remember that when I bought them, they reminded me of the novel The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (which is about the making of a medieval tapestry by that name). There aren't actually any unicorns on my curtains - only horses and some animals I'm not sure what they're supposed to be (deer? large dogs?). But I still get that association in my head, every time I look at them...  

The curtains in my study

The curtains in my study were bought a couple of years later, I think (after I had tried other old ones there but ended up not satisfied with those). They have birds on them, and I like them because they are white and thin enough to let through some light - but at the same  time colourful and cheerful.

And now, having spent half a day (or more) watching my curtains just "blowing in the wind", my mind wanders off to one of my Dylan favourites from way back in my youth...

 

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind