Since I returned to Tramin after tying up loose ends in Venice, I have been longing for a sunny day. And yet, given that it is now the beginning of August, my wish has yet to be sufficiently granted. You could probably count on one hand how many blue-skied days we’ve had. I’d been fantasising about spending hours lying on the grass and intermittently taking a dip in the beautiful swimming pool in Tramin. There’s a reasonable entrance fee of seven euros and one can spend the entire day lounging on the grassy terraces, reading, listening to music, knitting. The pool is quite massive (spread over 1300 square meters) and the water is always cool and crisp. You feel nestled in the valley with the mountains always bordering your field of vision. I remember having spent many days by the poolside last year. When we were working and didn’t have the luxury to go swimming in the day, we would go to the Kalterersee, the Kaltern lake, around 7.30 pm, when entry would be free, and there was still light and we’d either swim or sit by the lake and chat with friends. It’s simply been too cold and rainy to do that. 

On the other hand, despite knowing the moody weather shifts are integrally connected to climate change, I have also been savouring this feeling of monsoonal weather. The last few days have felt like and even smelt like Goa in the rains and there is this intense green-ness that has overrun everything, a sap-green lushness that crowns the tops of vineyards or serves like an aura around apple trees, and generally stands out when you gaze upon the mountains. In the fountain in the main square I can smell the mossy growth at the bottom of the water. It feels so familiar and it somehow places me back home. It’s an unexpected delight. When the rain gushes down, especially at night, I remember that childhood desire, that wishing that it would continue such that we wouldn’t have school the next day. I loved those days when you returned home because all the teachers who came from Vasai to Kurla as well as students from more faraway parts couldn’t attend. I loved that blessing of free time, leisure time, it always felt like a gift.