Endless summer.
It's already August but I'm trying to keep it endless. Grasping on to the last hot, sticky days of summer; simultaenously hating the humidly drenching heat but addicted to the feel of the sun pushing its rays onto my bare shoulders. And just when the clear days are no longer being so coy, slipping away into rainy weeks, it seems like the crush that is summer might just be disappearing.
Even if you know, deep down, that it's endless, that compensating something stirs, and you find yourself thinking about all the promises of fall: crisp apples and cooler rides, cyclocross and embrocation. And for me, a less sweaty season for a Rapha scarf.
My mistake. I should have said "Rapha scarves."
Back when the weather was still on a drier side of gooey, over breakfast, I heard a hint of a new Rapha scarf design. Accompanied by a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile that would have bothered me if it didn't have that effect of eliciting smiles in response, it pulled at my curiosity. No details were given, but it stuck in my mind, the Rapha fanboy in me waiting to pounce [or at least ogle] when it was revealed.
A week or so ago, it did. And then a few days ago, it arrived in a familiar slim package, a neat little surprise wrapped in pink tissue paper. Unexpected and out of the blue, it was the kind of surprise that elicits no screaming or squealing; the kind that, instead, has you both smiling and gaping, exhaling short bursts of breath in an attempt to form words. The really happy kind of surprise.
Because this scarf is absolutely delicious. As delicious as the original, its intricacy is more simple than busy. The chains, spokes, cranks, chainrings, and hubs melting into a delicate paisley that retains its elegance, despite its striking similarity to the ubiquitous black cotton bandanas that populate the fixster scene. Draping it around my neck in an apartment that felt more like a sauna than a habitable home, goofy smile plastered on my sweaty face, I couldn't wait for fall.
But please. Do you think I could wait even a few days to wear this? Forgive me, though, because it's scorching hot out. Which means I'm improvising just a tiny bit.
Touching the slinky silk with my fingers, I initially felt too guilty to wrap it around a salty neck. Instead I tossed it around a belt loop in my shorts, keeping my neck free to breathe but repping Rapha. The more sophisticated can tie it around the handle of a handbag - the royal Hermes-esque treatment bestowed on scarves that women cannot help showing off.
Never fear, though, I'm a traditionalist at heart. Unable to resist, even in the dense heat, I opted for something looser than the snug fit of a properly tied Rapha scarf. Deceptively bandana-like, it's more than a cut above. And let me tell you, even half-dressed, this scarf is hot.
The girl in me insisted on trying it at an angle, too, the corner pointing not down but a little to the side. Vanity insisted I include a face shot to show that sometimes, I don't look nearly as tired as I do on the Rapha blog. Or, at least I don't think I do when I have a certain silky black scarf around my neck.
So there you have it: the new Rapha scarf. And while this is a peek into [a Rapha] fall, there's still reason to cling to summer Rapha Scarf Fridays. Because it's endless; full of thick slices of juicy watermelon, bike rides, and favorite friends.
Endless, awesome, amazing summer.
[I've been told someone else might be joining me for this week's Rapha Scarf Friday, too. How awesome is that?]
