Billygean.co.uk

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Reminiscing

Greenday's Time of your Life reminds me of Cornwall.

When I was 17 me and my best friend journeyed to Newquay. I remember her air freshener was a Mr Rush and it smelt surprisingly pleasant, like sweets. It was our first trip away. When we were driving down we thought lorry drivers were waving at us. It turns out we had a flat tyre.

Newquay was the summer I discovered hats. Good hats, not hats that made me look like an elf, or bald, or both. We spent a lot of time in the dark shops stuffed with embroidered clothes that smelt of weed.

We thought we were pagans, that summer. We spent a lot of time late at night in our caravan concocting oils to burn, and celebrating festivals, midsummer, lammas, whilst the smell of dusky summer drifted in the windows. One time we didn't have any matches left for candles so we lit the grill instead. I remember we played cards by the grill. We didn't really know how to play Texas Hold Em Poker, but we thought we were cool.

I remember I walked across the misty grasses near the sea once. The rain seeped into my flip flops and made my feet squelch. I remember I lay down in the grass and called my Dad.

This was the first real time we went out to clubs. We got dressed in faded demin and white t shirts and went and drank barcardi and coke and chatted to surfers. When I went to the toilet my head would spin but we'd drink more as we stood out on the decking watching people night swimming. As we walked home we'd admire the wet suits hanging from every other pink windowsill.

We reinvented ourselves that summer. We bought Quiksilver t shirts and wore beads and flowers in our hair. We delighted in going to cafes in the middle of the day and ordering frappuchinos which we would take to the beach where we attempted to surf. Once I fell off my board and the sea pulled down my bikini bottoms and filled them with sand. I was so mortified I stayed underwater for as long as I could.

I felt smug as I went to collect my A-level results knowing at least I was tanned and looked like a surfer.

And then everything changed. It's funny really. I think I'd like to go back there someday.

by billygean.co.uk at 9:32 PM |