“There’s an unseen force which lets birds know when you’ve just washed your car.”
The day is dark and perfectly still. The leaves are barely moving. I only hear birds. It rained this morning for a while, a short while. Before I went to breakfast, I turned off the AC and opened the windows even though today will be in the 80’s. Gracie was tired of being stuck in the house, and I missed the sounds of the street and my little world on the deck. Later, when it hits the 80’s, I may have to turn on the AC again. Starting tomorrow and for the next few days, we’ll have a summer reprieve. Temperatures will be in the 70’s.
My friend Glenn sent me pictures of last January’s snowstorm. His house and car are covered in snow, and his street has yet to be plowed. I remember that storm, and I remember wishing for summer.
I’ve come to the conclusion that people need something to gripe about, even the happiest among us. It is just the nature of the beast. Though I count myself among the latter, the happy ones, I’ve been complaining about the heat and humidity, the traffic and the gawking tourists who slow down all that traffic. I figure venting by filling the air with a few blue words is my way of thwarting grumpiness.
Sunday was usually the day we went to the beach. On Saturday my dad did his house chores, mostly the yard, so it was his day to work around the house. Sunday we’d load up the car. The picnic basket, the tartan cooler, assorted towels, the beach blanket, shirts to ward off sunburn, four kids and my parents were piled into the car, the car without air-conditioning. All four windows would be opened, but the air always felt hot, and I was prone to car sickness. The two windows by the backseat could only go down halfway so that added to the misery. Once I threw up out the window, and my father thought it had started to rain. My poor sister sat in the middle between my brother and me, but we’d still fight over sides. I’d complain his foot was on my side and he’d yell back that it wasn’t. Meanwhile, with his eyes on the road, my father would swing his arm back and forth over the front seat hoping to hit one of us. He never did. The threats were next, ” Keep this up and we’re going home.” That generally quieted us down as we all loved the beach.
My favorite beach story, which I know I’ve told here before, merits retelling. It has become a family favorite repeated often when we’re together. My brother and I were tossing rocks into the water, and my mother told us to stop. We did, but a few minutes later she started yelling at us, “I told you to stop and now which one of you has hit me on the head?” We were dumbfounded as we had actually listened to her and stopped throwing rocks. We ran over and found a seagull had hit my mother dead center in the head. We told her, and she started gagging (my mother was a gagger, even when changing our diapers) as she ran to the water screaming for us to help wash it out of her hair. We did, but we laughed quietly the whole time. Only our shaking shoulders gave us away.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Beach, bird droppings, Picnic basket, seagulls
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
July 24, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Dark, windy, rainy and bl…y cold here today (well I did see the sun for about five minutes during the day). It is only 55F here now and the temperature is still dropping! I do hope frost doesn´t come early this year, normally it comes around one week in to september but it sort of feels that way in the air right now.
Going to the beach was always a favorite 🙂 We used to fish after small crabs. We looked at the poor animals that we had in buckets and if they were lucky we remembered to put them back in to the ocean before the water got to hot in the bucket. Some actually boiled them but I´ve always thought it is to little meat on them to do that.
I love that memory of Yours 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 25, 2011 at 12:15 am
Christer,
Today was much cooler than it’s been and tonight is only 63°. We had sweatshirts on when we watched the movie on the deck. The next few days will be in the 70’s and the nights around the same as tonight.
We were great shell gatherers. We’d try starfish, but they’d stink after a short while.
I’m glad you love that memory. It is a favorite!
July 24, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Hi Kat,
Isn’t there a saying about bird poop on the head being lucky? A similar thing happened to a friend’s mother. She belonged to a religion that was very strict. No dancing, drinking or smoking because bad things happened after you did any of those things. My friend, her mother and I were walking down Tremont St in Boston one Sunday afternoon. My friend’s mother was wearing white gloves, as one did on Sunday afternoon, and she was carrying her Bible in her hand in such a way that the cover was facing up towards the sky. And the pigeons. Her Bible and her glove got blessed. I’m afraid my friend and I laughed. We were evil children. 🙂
Sunny and not so hot but still humid up here. I think I want Christer’s weather for just a day.
Enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
July 25, 2011 at 12:18 am
Hi Caryn,
Yes there is, but I doubt my mother would have thought she was all that lucky. She was so disgusted. I wonder if she was getting a message from on high, sort of like the burning bush but in the guise of a bird.
It was a great day today though it rained a bit in the morning. NO AC today!
July 24, 2011 at 3:35 pm
She was “shat” Upon as they say and also it brings good luck. I gotta wonder who started those rumors. We loved the beach only our trips took 5 hours to get there. You can imagine with three kids in the car. My parents had the patience of Jobe. But when we went we stayed the week and once camped out in a huge tent. I remember it rained one afternoon and we were consumed with a game of Monopoly. We ate popcorn for dinner. Those were the days.
July 25, 2011 at 12:20 am
Z&Me, Yes, she was to her chagrin. We were close to an hour away from the beach we liked the most, but in the heat of a summer’s day, it seemed like much longer in that car.
My mother would have hated camping. She just wasn’t the type. She was a good sport but camping would have been just too much.
July 24, 2011 at 4:58 pm
What? No Joni Mitchell’s Song To A Seagull? Or was that too obvious?
July 25, 2011 at 12:22 am
im6,
I did consider it, but I try as much as possible to play other than folk on the weekends though a couple do sneak through. I play a lot of Joni so I decided against it.
July 25, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Cheers
July 25, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Minicapt,
I actually feel bad for the bird. It doesn’t have much choice: hold on or bye bye birdie.