Saturday, June 15
Sandholmsudden, 11:00
Last night we went to bed very early, because Irma was tired and it was very cold. This morning we were in plenty of time to get up and go to the market.
It is less windy by Benita’s than it is in Sundö, and therefore warmer. I am on the shore looking at the boats. Behind me fifteen or twenty people are queuing to get their fire extinguishers checked, because its the official Pellinki Extinguisher Checking Day. The voluntary fire brigade are there supervising.
We will eat fish cakes for breakfast. On the way home we will stop at the village shop to discover that Erika has declared it Village Shop Day, and is handing out free sausages, juice and coffee. We will notice that Erika is slowly morphing into Garda, and we will like this.
In the afternoon we will return to Benita’s where Irma will be offered a permanent place in half a kiosk in the market. She will take it without hesitation, because it is very definitely a once-only opportunity that has come about because of a very particular set of circumstances that will not be repeated.
We will spend the evening playing Irma’s old LPs, and realsing how completely devoid of meaning a lot of Paul Simon’s songs are. Not that this is a bad thing, of course.