You lay your towel on the sand. You drop your beach bag at one end of the towel as a make shift pillow. You lie on the plush fabric, eyes pointed upwards at the sky. And you play Rorschach inkblot test with the moving puffs of cumulus.

A deer floats by and morphs into a goat. Up on the left, two camels are happily humping, and to the right, you see the islands of Japan. Or is it New Zealand. Tufts of white balloons converge into an angry 1950s chignon. A distant aeroplane traverses the sky, leaving a faint trail of white behind. It turns into a flatulent bubble. The camels have turned into a big white lump in the shape of an austral island-continent, minus Tasmania, which must have gone holidaying in Brazil.

Back on the sand, the woman in front of you has angel wings tattoos on her back, though she is no Angel Gabriel. Nor can she fly. But the sea gulls can. Across the sky.

Summer’s official start is welcomed today.

** With special thanks to Gboy and his photographic skills for the stunning accompanying image. Click on the photo for an enlarged view.