Today is the solstice and I am OVER summer

Summer activities for if you too are dying in an unreasonable heatwave hell

It’s too hot to write or work or walk your dog or even really be alive right now, here in this special little pocket of suntrap hell that is the Flemish Kempen.

With temperatures regularly hitting around 40 degrees Celsius in my back garden, I’m living in this strange subterranean world where all the metal roller shutter blinds are permanently down, casting reality into an unpleasant shade of twilight.

a painting I made commemorating my ‘swallowed by a whale’ recurring nightmares

Readers of this that live outside Europe might be shocked to hear that airconditioning is extremely unusual here, even in Mediterranean countries, and so no, I can’t just turn on the A/C. Not yet anyway: we’re planning on getting it fitted to the bedrooms so that our son can sleep (he’s very miserable right now) and so can we (we’re also miserable).

Especially in the field I’m an expert in, which is that of increasingly frequent existential crises, and art, and writing, where all of our work is undervalued, resources are limited, and the cruel punishments of late-stage capitalism are relentless.

Obviously, I feel very conflicted about this, because air conditioning is the actual devil but it’s either that or get the hell out of here and go back to Ireland (no, really), which is impossible thanks to an epic housing shortage and homelessness crisis (there are currently 12,000ish officially homeless people in Ireland).

I’m writing more than I ever have in months these days, thanks in part to 1000 Words of Summer, and also to people upgrading to paid subscribers for this newsletter (holy crap, maybe there are people interested in reading my writing after all). Compare subscription plans here.

Quote break:

Like the fertile soil of a well-kept garden, a life of splendid, utter uselessness yields abundance beyond our immediate aims. - Joseph M Keegin in Psyche: A life of splendid uselessness is a life well lived

Ideas for solstice celebration that don’t involve being in the sunshine

Celebrate the summer solstice at home. Hooray! We’re halfway through the year! Surely that means something and temperatures will surely begin to decrease dramatically already! Right??!!

1. host a solstice feast - in my case this will entail sharing a packet of tuc crackers with my main man Feniq (a dog)

2. hold a bonfire gathering - again, me and Feniq, because let’s face it, I’m crap at being organised and doubt people will show up at my house if I text them now to come over in an hour

3. watch the sunset and give thanks for the solstice light as you watch it begin and end. The ending being the most important part, obv.

This is Feniq my dog. He’s 10 and enjoys all food especially peanut butter, strawberries, and cheese. He was a total mess when we “rescued” him from the pound. Please adopt, don’t shop.

Other non-solstice related summer activities for if you too are dying in an unreasonable hell

A list of suggestions:

• do nothing and be glorious in your idleness

• make cyanotypes: they can stay outside but you don’t have to. Win!

• get monthly zine-making ideas and join a community of creative friends with That Monthly Zine Project. Totally biased on this one because I run it. The current theme is SPACE, YO, and of course I’m using this opportunity yet again to talk about bees, and, well, specifically, bee space. Not bees in space, mind you. Bee space. What the hell is a zine?

• build a pillow fort and defend your brain against zombies by turning off all electronic equipment (who knows, it could work)

• upload a photo dump to any social media platform of your choice to affirm your existence on earth, even though you’re living in summertime hell. Bonus points if it has a theme of some kind, like, I dunno, life after heatwaves

• ask the Bing AI chat thing some pressing questions about anarchism and the value of the capitalist system (see below). The AI chat is clearly going to be the first against the wall come the revolution.

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Alright you cool cats, I am bidding you adieu. I hope, wherever you are, that you are being fanned with big ostrich plume features by this hunk, while being fed deliciously cold grapes by this person. Happy Pride, be kind to each other and yourselves, stay hydrated.

Sincerely yours,

Jessica