“Summertime is always the best of what might be.”
I hear insects buzzing, the sound of a summer day for me ever since I was little.
When I was a kid, I walked everywhere. In the summer the roads shimmered when I walked on a really hot day. I knew it was a mirage caused by the heat, but I still found it a bit mystifying. The shimmer always stayed the same distance away from me in front of where I was walking. It made me think of the desert and of water which wasn’t there.
Sidewalks were so hot they’d burn my bare feet. I’d do that silly dance every one does of quickly raising one foot then the other ahing out loud in pain the whole time. The grass was immediate relief, cool and lush.
Drinking water from the gushing hose was an easy way to feel a bit cooler. The water ran fast and hard. The front of my blouse always got wet. It didn’t matter because the sun dried it quickly.
My mother always yelled when we looked into the fridge for what she thought was too long a time. “Close the door. Do you want everything to melt?” She never understood that looking was the best way to find what you didn’t know you craved on a hot day until you saw it. Always in the fridge was the aluminum pitcher filled with Zarex, usually orange. Everyone liked orange. My favorite was cherry, but I bowed to the orange contingent.
My mother had aluminum glasses to match the blue aluminum pitcher. They were the best for cold drinks because you could feel the coolness through the aluminum to your hand. Ice cubes were too difficult to get from the trays. You had to pull a lever to release the cubes and most times the lever had also frozen. Waiting for the water to get hot then putting the tray under the faucet was the only way to loosen the lever. All of it was far too much work for a few ice cubes.
Today is a wonderful summer day with a breeze and a sunny blue sky.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusicTags: aluminum glasses, birds, burning feet, buzzing insects, desert, fridge door, gushing hoses, ice cube tray, melting food, mirages, optical illusions, orange flavored, shimmering roads, Zarex
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
July 24, 2015 at 3:46 pm
The katydids have taken over the playing since the birds have stopped singing here. They are still rathger small so it isn’t especially loud yet but I love that soundin the evening and early morning. The rest of the days belongs to the grasshoppers, much the same sound but oh so much weaker.
Yes, close the fridge must be a world wide sentence 🙂 As You say, it is hard to decide what one really wants if one has to close the door too soon 🙂 I love anything cherry tasting but for a reason I just don’t understand it isn’t a very loved taste here so it was orange here too 🙂
I watched Ender’s Game today and I really liked it! Now I must find the book so I can get the real story.
I can actually don’t remember ever seeing aluminium glasses! Pitchers yes but never glasses. Plastic was the thing here when I grew up and preferably see through plastic with different patterns like big red and blue dots on them 🙂 I’m not sure that pattern was very common but I know we had them 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 24, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Christer,
Many birds still sing here, mostly in the mornings and the late afternoons. They are so pretty.
She never gave us enough time to look for the goodies. I love some cherry flavors more than others. Cherry popsicles were my second favorites, root beer being the first.
I also liked the movie but don’t have much of an urge to read the book.
The glasses were a match for the pitcher. My sister has the set now with a few newer glasses added.
We didn’t have plastic, just aluminum and glass, when I was a kid.
Have a great day!
July 24, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Justin against Rick ! The Detroit Tigers motor in to Funway Park with the season drifting away, but still good for a little sparring. Steve Harvey or Big Puppy, quite a choice
July 24, 2015 at 10:20 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I was out and just got home-I missed little as it is 1-1 in the 10th. I know these are well-played. well-pitched games, but they tend to be a bit boring.
Sadly, the Sox have been awful!
July 24, 2015 at 8:33 pm
I never saw the aluminum pitcher but we had the glasses also. As a matter of fact I think we still have a few that we inherited from my wife’s grandmother. Before plastic ice trays the aluminum ones were a pain to use.
In Texas any concrete in July or August would burn your feet. When exiting the swimming pool we had to have a pair of flip flops to make it to a shady area or to the grass. In mid August the asphalt would get soft and the tar in the expansion cracks in the concrete would become soft like black bubble gum. I always wanted to see if you could really fry an egg on the sidewalk. 🙂 I never tried it because I don’t like eggs that much.
July 24, 2015 at 10:23 pm
Bob,
It was a set which my sister now has. The colors were wonderful.
Those aluminum trays were hell to to use. You had to use every ounce of your strength to get the cubes off the aluminum separators.
My mother told us she and her sister used to take pieces of the melted tar and chew it like bubble gum. We didn’t have much tar in the town where I lived but lots of concrete which always seemed hot.
Some news station did fry an egg on a sidewalk once.
July 25, 2015 at 12:01 am
Prices vary:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&output=search&tbm=shop&q=retro+aluminum+glasses&oq=retro+aluminum+glasses&gs_l=products-cc.3…3254.8477.0.8710.22.8.0.14.14.0.173.626.7j1.8.0….0…1ac.1.64.products-cc..14.8.624.4ZKMedaRCTU&gws_rd=ssl#hl=en&tbm=shop&q=retro+aluminum+tumblers
July 25, 2015 at 11:11 am
im6,
Of course the most expensive would be the ones I remember. They would be the 6 Sunburst Anodized Aluminum Tumblers at $72.00. I did a little looking but didn’t find the exact pitcher. If I hunted longer, I might have.
These never wore out. They got dented and lost some color but were still usable. My sister still uses them for her grandchildren.