“Rain has always given me an inexplicable joy.”
My air conditioner is blasting even though it is cooler outside than yesterday. I was hot when I woke up and figured I’d chill the house for a bit. The day is pretty with a strong breeze and lots of sun. The dogs were chasing each other in the yard, and both came inside with tongues hanging. They are lolling in the AC.
Yesterday I cleaned my living room, everything in my living room. On the bookcase, long neglected, was enough dust for me to write a short story in it. I polished and washed everything I could. The problem is now I have to do the rest of the house because the living room looks so good.
My hall has bits of bark on the floor. Nala brings in branches, albeit small ones but she gnaws each trophy and spits out the bark. On the floor are several toys which used to be in the toy box. Nala likes the squeaks of the rubber toys. Henry prefers soft toys. They share.
When I was a kid, I was seldom inside in the summer. I especially went out when it rained. I loved getting wet in the softness of a summer rain. I’d stomp on the puddles in the gutters and watch the water spray out on each side. My sneakers would get soaked and bubbles would surface through the canvas when I walked. I never bothered to change. My clothes dried in the sun.
Sometimes, if the rain falls straight down, I sit on the deck under the umbrella. Rain surrounds me. I hear the drops hitting the leaves and the deck being pelted. Over my head, the rain makes a tapping noise on the umbrella and drips down the circle. I sit where I stay dry.
In Ghana, my house and the classroom blocks had tin roofs. When the rain came in torrents, I couldn’t be heard by my students. The lesson had to be taught using the chalkboard. The tin roofs made the rain sound tremendous, dramatic. Since then, I have always wanted a tin roof.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
June 8, 2021 at 2:36 pm
Hi Kat,
If you had a tin roof, then which cat would you pit up there on a hot day? 🙂 Thank you, Tennessee Williams.
Today the sky is partly cloudy with a predicted high of 84°. The rain from early this morning has moved to the east. Later in the week the temperature should get back into the 90s which is more normal for this time of the year.
My handyman/factotum is finishing up the latest home project. He and his wife will beginning the job of replacing all the rotted wood on our chimney and in some other places where the previous owner failed to keep up with repairs. He has to wait until the current wood on the house dries out. It’s interesting that about half of the house has brick facade and the other half is siding and wood. All the houses in this part of town have very similar construction. I assume that all an brick facade would raise the cost of the house considerably. Regardless, I’m really enjoying home ownership again.
We run the central air conditioners all day in the summer. My wife likes to keep the house cold, 68° tops. I like it warmer around 72°. Sometimes I have to put on a jacket while indoors. I guess that’s what happens when you marry a hot woman. 🙂
June 8, 2021 at 5:41 pm
HI Bob,
Funny!! No cats on the roof.
We will be in the 70’s for the next few days. That is typical weather for us this time of year. The last few days have been August weather. The poor dogs come in panting. I just sweat.
I like brick houses. Down here there might be a couple, but they are rare. Most of the houses on the cape have the same type fronts. My house, for example, has a painted front while the other three sides have cedar shingles (shakes in other parts of the country). The other type front is just the shingles weathering. My house is architecturally a full cape: two windows on each side of the front door. Old captain houses are the biggest. Many of them are on the sides of Route 6A, the old way to get down cape.
My house is set to 70˚. It is just right for me. I only turn on the air when it gets really hot, like the last couple of days.
June 8, 2021 at 6:02 pm
I couldn’t resist with your mentioning tin roofs in Ghana and I know you have cats.
Here all the brick houses are really just a brick facade. The houses themselves are made of two by four wood framing probably just like your house. The rear portion and the sides of our house has the wood siding and the front has the brick. Those homes with brick facade all around the house are out of my price range. As we discovered during the tornado of 2019, your survivability is tied to good luck as opposed to brick structures. I used to say that mobile homes are really tornado beacons. They don’t survive tornados at all. 🙂
June 10, 2021 at 1:29 pm
It is the same here, brick facades on many. There was actually a Barnstable Brick Company. I have two of their bricks put into my walkway.
Cape houses may be single capes, 1/2 capes, 3/4 capes and full capes. The number of front windows determine the style based on from one to four windows. That is the most common architecture down here.
June 9, 2021 at 1:54 pm
We’re still having that just enough warm and nice weather but they say it might get hot soon. I’m not looking forward to that.
I do like a summer rain after a period of warm weather, the smell that comes with it is amazing. Also I won’t need to water pots those days and that’s always a plus 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 10, 2021 at 1:32 pm
Hi Christer,
I am looking forward to the cool weather we’ve got starting today. I even closed the window behind me.
We were supposed to have rain last night. We didn’t. We do need rain. My grass is looking dry.
Enjoy your day!!