Friday, August 8, 2014

Girl Friday: An Elegant Escape

See suvi on olnud justkui lõputu piknik, tulvil idülli ja rõõmu. Juulis ja augustis oleme sõpradega käinud mitmel korral Pirita jõel paadiga sõitmas. Oleme õhtu hakul rentinud paadi, võtnud ühes piknikukorvi ja nautinud imelist rahu, mida on raske sõnadesse panna. No ma proovin. Ma olen alati armastanud Monet maale, mida ta oma kodukohas Givernys maalis - ohtralt vesiroose ja pajuoksad jõkke langemas. Neil päevil, kui oleme käinud Pirita jõel, on mul tunne nagu oleksin tegelane Monet maalilt.

Paadisõidus on midagi romantiliselt vanamoodsat. Ühel päeval, kui Pirita kloostri kõrval paadi peatasime ja rahulikult sushit sõime, märkasime puujuurel istuvat kobrast, kes võttis samuti õhtueinet. Pirita jõel elutseb palju pardiperesid, kes vahel paati saadavad või vesirooside vahel sulistavad. Ühe sellise paadisõidu käigus tegime toreda pildiseeria, kus peategelaseks on õlgkübar, mille ostsin tosin aastat tagasi Londonist ja oma rannamajast hiljuti üles leidsin. Rebisin sellelt kohemaid hinnasildi ja võtsin kasutusse.

This summer has been like a never-ending picnic, full of joy and idyll. In July and August, we went rowing with friends along the Pirita River on several occasions. At the dusk of the evening we would rent a boat, take along a picnic basket and enjoy the wonderful peace that is hard to put into words. Well, I'll try. I've always loved Monet paintings that he painted at his home at Giverny - plenty of water lilies and willow branches to fall into the river.

In those days, as we visited the Pirita River, I felt like I was one of the characters in a Monet painting. Boating is something romantic and old-fashioned. One day, as we stopped our boat in the weeds next to the St. Bridget's Convent and enjoyed our sushi, we noticed a beaver sitting at the root of tree, also taking its evening meal. Lots of duck families, splashing among the water lilies or accompanying a boat curiously, have their homes on the Pirita River. On one of those boating trips we did a nice series of pictures in which the main character is a straw hat, which I bought some dozen years ago in London, forgot about and found recently in our beach house. I tore the price tag away, and put the hat to use!