“This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realise that it is August: the summer’s last stand.”
Today is another wonderfully beautiful summer day. The morning air is clear. The sun is a bit diffused. There are clouds, but they are just part of the background of the day. The temperature will be in the high 70’s. The low will be a lovely 68˚. A strong breeze ruffles the leaves and bends the top branches of the pines. Today is a day to be enjoyed.
Today begins August. It wasn’t my favorite month but it was. I guess that’s a contradiction of sorts needing explaining. Well, August meant closer to back to school, the end of my summer, but August also meant my birthday, the best day ever. It all makes sense.
When I was a kid, I wasn’t ever thrilled with Sundays. I had to go to mass and stay around for dinner. On some Sunday afternoons we went to visit my grandparents in East Boston. I was always bored unless I explored. The thousands of cousins, who were also dragged to my grandparents, were more my sisters’ ages. I was the oldest grandchild. I lived in a smallish town so I was in awe of the city and found it intriguing. Corner stores were everywhere. People sold slush out of their windows. Bakeries had pizza, square pizza which I still love. I remember the truck with the merry go round stopping on the streets so kids could buy rides. The horses were small. There were four or five of them spinning in a tight circle. I was too old to ride, but I was okay with no horseback riding. I had the city to explore.
When I started traveling, I loved roaming the cities. I had favorites. London topped the list, but we are, of course, excluding Accra, my favorite of all. I have been to London more times than I can remember. Sometimes I stayed in a B&B, mostly when I was young. Later I’d stay in hotels, nice but inexpensive hotels. We stayed at the President a few times. It was in Russell Square around the corner from the subway, the tube. I remember breakfast included the traditional tomato and sort of rubbery bacon. I used to call room service for coke and ice. The oldest delivery lady always came to my room hauling the tray. She wore a full apron with a bib. I always gave her a big tip. I felt bad.
In South America, Quito, old Quito, is my favorite city. We stayed in a hotel around the corner from the plaza. Women wearing shawls and hats toted bundles of stuff, usually covered bundles to make them easier to carry but difficult to identify. I roamed the narrow streets. I stopped to visit churches and museums. I shopped in a couple of stores. I sat on the plaza steps for a while to watch the world go by me. I ate on the run. Quito was my hub for exploring. I went in a bus to the equator. There was a shack of sorts and a line on the ground separating the two hemispheres. I stood straddling the line so I was in both hemispheres. The shack sold souvenirs and post cards. I bought a few post cards, wrote them out and paid to have them sent from the equator so the postmark was 00°00’00. That was really neat. Another day I went to a market a distance from the city. It was unbelievable. The market had everything from animals to prepared foods, clothes, cloth, household goods and so much more. I bought a few things, easy to carry things. One was a small basket and the other a hat, a beautiful red sort of cowboy hat I still have which is old enough now to be an antique. Inside the hat it says Industria Equatoriana and La Paloma de Tubac. I wore that hat rather than pack and probably squash it. I must have been an interesting sight to behold.
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August 1, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Hi Kat,
Here August is the peak of summer as we can get triple digit temperatures sometimes into October.
When I was in London I took the train to Greenwich to visit the Royal Observatory. This is the location of the beginning of modern navigation becise of the invention of the chronometer. It’s where the world established the prime meridian. I had someone take a picture of me straddling the line on the ground indicating West and East longitude. I only flew over the equator. 🙂
When we visited my grandmother in Brooklyn when I was a kid, all the aunts, uncles and cousins came to visit us. My grandmother was a fabulous cook and baker. She would put out a feast for lunch or dinner. Although, Dallas was much smaller than New York, I always loved going into the big city during our visits to eat all the ethnic foods that were not available in Texas in those days. Dallas was a culinary wasteland. Unless, you liked barbecue, chicken fried steak or fried chicken. 🙂
When I started traveling for work, I always arrived a day early to acclimate my circadian rhythm and to explore the city. Although, I didn’t go to as many interesting places as you, I enjoyed walking around and taking in the local culture. My favorite city is Toronto. It’s a very ethnically diverse city where you can quickly and easily go from authentic Chinese food to authentic anything else in the world food. Canadians are a welcoming people and Toronto has it all.
The contrast between what we’ve become in the last couple of decades compared to our neighbors to the north is startling. The last four years has made me somewhat ashamed to be an American. Trump’s world is not the America our generation has strived to become since the end of the Second World War. Instead we have amplified our worst prejudices rather than our best angels.
August 1, 2021 at 8:30 pm
HI Bob,
The dog days of August will be upon us as the month starts to wind down. The humidity is horrific in August. The summer wants us to remember it as soon enough September will be here. It is the best weather month of the year.
On one of my trips, I went to the Royal Observatory by boat. Like you, I straddled the Prime Meridian line. It was a great visit and included the museums.
My grandmother used to put a huge pot of spaghetti on the stove for everyone too eat. I don’t remember what else she served. I used a cheese grater for the first to grate the chunk of cheese. I thought it was fun. I use one for the table now if I serve pasta. Boston is a great city for food.
When I arrive in a foreign city, I plow through the need for sleep. I force myself to sight see and walk around so I can go to bed early, but not too early, to acclimatize myself to the local time. That usually helps.
I haven’t ever been to Toronto. It is on my some day list.
Trumpism will disappear in time from Europeans’ minds because Biden is a decent, honorable man.
August 1, 2021 at 9:52 pm
The temperature was close to 100° until about four in the afternoon when the rain came and cooled things off.
A friend of mine was into astronomy as a hobby. One reader wrote to the editor of the astronomy magazine that he brought his GPS receiver to the Royal Observatory. He discovered that the real prime meridian was about 750 ft. down the hill and in the park from the Observatory. Not too bad for the late 1700s. 🙂
August 1, 2021 at 10:08 pm
I lived in Ghana where 100˚happened often in the dry season, but I was younger than and more able to be tolerant. Now I just flip on my AC.
I am so very amazed by the early scientists. They had crude tools but made such important finds.
August 1, 2021 at 5:47 pm
The days and weeks drift by and it’s been 2 years since I was in London, hanging with Mrs MDH and the Prince. I don’t really see any time on the horizon when I can drop in again. Time changes circumstances and these days I like to stay at the Savoy. Tried the Goring and didn’t like it as much. It all sounds so arrogant and inappropriate. It takes me 5 minutes to walk from the Savoy to the LSE, I do that and remember very different times. I love the music picks today they all drop in to certain slots for me. After 40 years, I still navigate the City without even blinking. Pre trip I would waste endless hours booking theatres, sports, exhibitions and sending amazon crap to my sister’s home in Surrey for collection before heading home to Detroit. After 5 days I start complaining I am ready to go home.
So while I roll around on the sofa recovering from double hernia surgery I am thinking 22, but woo noz.
Great post today Kat, thank you
August 1, 2021 at 8:36 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I remember the visit when The Prince got his birthday trip. You were so excited to show him your history. Time does change circumstances, but I think we are drawn to places which live in our hearts. I had wanted to go back to Ghana last year thinking that it would be my last trip. I don’t know now if that will ever happen. I don’t have the money, but the virus is also a reason to wait.
I have this overwhelming need to say good-bye to my former students and to Ghana. I love that country so very much.
Thanks on the posts.
August 1, 2021 at 6:11 pm
Greetings from Lake Constance, nice summer days, hiking and biking. Some rain today but not enough to keep me from being outside. I’m just sitting under the starry sky (not as light polluted as my hometown) with beer and cigarettes, life is good. It’s just a short journey but it’s fun to be out of town for more than a day, the first time since Corona started.
I’ll listen to KTCC music i missed when I’m back home.
Hedley, in case you read this, I will be in Ulm tomorrow but only for about an hour. Just enough time to see the Minster and head back to the station to get the train back home.
August 1, 2021 at 6:52 pm
Birgit, At Heimstraße 29 you will find the Stolpersteine for August, Gretel, Erich and Louise Nathan, it does not include Uncle Paul who was murdered at Auschwitz. My family is easily traced back to 1720 before it all was destroyed.
I loved the city as a teenager and need one last visit . The Munster will invite you in but steps to the top are not possible in your hour. Think of me when you are there, and thank you so much for telling me you will have a brief visit xoxoxo to the Bochum Belle
(Love Lake Constance)
August 1, 2021 at 8:41 pm
Birgit,
I’m so glad you finally get to be somewhere. Nothing is better than doing nothing and enjoying it. I agree life is good. I hope you enjoy the music.
I stayed in Ulm during one of my trips to Germany. We wandered around the city.
August 2, 2021 at 3:32 am
What wonderful memories (with hopes to return) you all have.
Covid has made such a mess of wandering far from my back yard.
Made it to the Oregon Coast a few weeks ago. First time in over a year. The ocean is true home to me. Growing up in the Valley meant
just an hour away from our mountains and seaside. I have missed them. I hope they will continue to be. But, again, Covid rears it’s ugly
head. And crazy unvaccinated people. Sigh.
August 2, 2021 at 11:33 am
Hi Tracey,
I need to get back to Ghana one more time. I watch videos from Ghana and smile and sort of cry. My students are in their 60’s and considered elderly. I fear I’ll lose some between Covid and the state of being in Ghana.
It boggles my mind that people refuse to get vaccinated, some from sheer stupidity. I guess this is one way the herd is culled.