Wednesday, June 23

This morning I went for a walk in the sunshine, listening to Grace Jones. I have not knowingly listened to her for about twenty years. The last time I went to the library I walked in and found the Grace Jones compilation Private Life: the Compass Point Sessions staring at me from the main desk. I borrowed it.

The music holds up well: code for “I still like it”. The double album consists of twelve inch versions, alternate mixes, and so on, but in an eighties way. Nothing says “remixed by DJ Bobblelobs” or anything like that. It all says “Ze / ZTT / let’s make a special cassette version”.

The sun continues until suddenly it doesn’t. In ten minutes the whole sky goes black and then the air says “thunder” and the thunder says “grrrrrr” in the way that Finnish thunder does.

In the gap between the darkening and the noise I nip outside, take a photograph, and close the doors.

The thunder will last most of the rest of the day.