Summer in the north. There’s a moment when the sun finally gets its hat out from behind the fat coats when we stand, dazzled and gaze at the bright. Oh, how lovely! And we peel off the layers to reveal naked skin, startled and smooth, like unshelling prawns. Toes and armpits and knees startlingly unclothed. Ankle tendons, shin freckles, backs of necks. The creases in shorts from their winter-long folding, hot feet in strap cages. In puzzlement we remember other summers and the line between showing and hiding resets. Our courage musters, we can leave the house without a jacket.
