Archive for July 2025
Wagon Wheels: Old Crow Medicine Show
July 31, 2025The Happy Wanderer: Bill Staines
July 31, 2025Going Up the Country: Canned Heat
July 31, 2025The Long and Winding Road: The Beatles
July 31, 2025“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
July 31, 2025The sky is darkening. Thunder showers are predicted. I believe it this time. The rain will start light but is supposed to get heavy tonight. Rain is quite welcomed. My grass is barn hay. I hand water my deck flowers. It has been a long time since the last rain.
I am a prisoner of the AC. My house is delightfully cool while outside is humid and hot. The only problem is I have to keep the backdoor closed. I swear the dogs are conspiring against me. I have to get up and open the door to let them out and in. They know this. Sometimes they are out for a few minutes while other times they just stand on the deck and look around. I shut the door behind me but don’t close it completely. Nala will bang the door to summon me. Henry will just stand there so I have to keep checking for him. They’ll come in but want out minutes later. I curse all the way to the back door.
When I was a kid, summer was my favorite season. Every day was open to new discoveries, new adventures.
One summer I went to Girl Scout day camp. Camp Aleska was across the street from the zoo and up a dirt road. It was surrounded by huge trees, many of them big old pine. In the front were the spots for each age group. Each spot had a walkway with small rocks on each side and a picnic table. I was in the oldest group. Our site was the furthest away from the camp house. We did crafts, hiked and had swimming lessons. We sang. Girl Scouts always sing.
One summer I was a junior counselor. They gave me my own group. I had no adult leader. I had little kids, the children of the counselors. We sat on small chairs at tables under the trees right beside the lodge. I had to get creative. We drew, colored, played games, took short hikes, heard stories and we sang. At the end of camp, each unit had to present. My kids sang a song with hand gestures. We practiced every day. They forgot most of it anyway, but their cuteness saved them.
My dance card is empty until Monday. I figure the sloth in me will have full rein. I’m going to read and maybe vacuum when the dogs’ fur balls get to be a frightening size, like the monsters of a B science fiction movie along the lines of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I will watch movies and the Red Sox. I will eat popcorn and chocolate. I will wear my cozies all day. I will contentedly sigh a lot.
Lazy Summer Night: The Four Preps
July 29, 2025Summertime: Ella Fitzgerald
July 29, 2025Here Comes the Sun: The Beatles
July 29, 2025Heat Wave: Martha and the Vandellas
July 29, 2025“Then came July like three o’clock in the afternoon, hot and listless and miserable.”
July 29, 2025It is summer hibernation time. The air conditioner is blasting to keep the torrid heat at bay. Right now it is 87°. Every report gives 90°as the high. I am no longer singing Oh what a Beautiful Morning. I am now singing a bit of an off key rendition of the Heat Is On.
When I was young, the heat never really bothered me. I was out every day sometimes to the playground where I played softball and did crafts while other times I was on my bike. We didn’t even have a fan, but that didn’t matter. After a full day, I fell sleep. The treat of the day was a popsicle bought from Johnny the ice cream man. My favorite was root beer followed by wild cherry.
Our living room was always dark. My mother pulled all the shades down to keep the sun at bay. The kitchen was hot, no shades and an open back door. Suppers were quick meals. The oven was seldom turned on as it heated up the small kitchen. If we opened the fridge to check around, we’d hear my father, “Close the fridge. You’re letting all the cold air out.” I remember the freezer had layers of ice. Our cold drink was Zarex, mostly orange Zarex. My father called it bug juice. I remember it was always in a blue aluminum pitcher which had a set of aluminum glasses (an oxymoron) in different colors. The glass always felt cold in my hand, and it was wet from condensation. After the sun went down, it was a bit cooler, and we stayed outside until my mother called. We had no set bedtime in the summer.
I didn’t know what hot was until the dry season in Bolgatanga. A cool day was in the low 90’s. The only saving grace was the heat was dry. I remember I’d be sitting in a chair in my living room, and when I got up, a sweat outline of my body was on the cushion. I had only a cold shower, but it was a delight in the dry season. I always took my shower just before bed. I’d not dry off, throw on a robe, hurry inside, take off my robe and go to bed. I fell asleep being air dried and feeling cool.
Now I hurry from air conditioner to air conditioner. I gasp when I get into my car, but luckily, it only takes a few minutes to get cold. I let the dogs out, but Henry often turns around and comes back inside. Nala stays out longer, and I keep watch. I don’t want her out long. They sleep deeply in the cool house.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 