The house is chilly. Last night was in the 50’s, and it will be again tonight. Today will be in the 70’s. If I could invent the perfect summer day, it would be like today, warm during the day and cool at night for sleeping.

The sun is gloriously bright and the red umbrellas on the deck pop in the light. Yesterday afternoon I put out my oriole feeders and late in the afternoon the female oriole arrived and had some grape jelly, left then came back a couple of times. I hope next time she brings her mate. The male oriole is one of the prettiest birds around here. Today I have to fill my suet feeder and my squirrel buster feeder which keeps the grey spawns away but doesn’t deter the red spawns or the chipmunks, as both are too lightweight to trigger the feeder so I now have my own way of getting rid of them. I keep my hose on the deck, put the nozzle on jet and spray them. They run really fast when the water hits them.

Some things just drive me crazy. I’ll start with people who don’t use their blinkers and people who leave their blinkers on the whole time. When the non-blinker turns onto the street where I had been waiting, I throw my arms up in frustration. Why did the driver think I was sitting there? Is there a parade coming? The constant click click click of the blinker should be a hint, but it isn’t. The car passes street after street and doesn’t turn and the blinker blinks. People who park and take up one and half spaces, especially this time of year, make me want to leave a nasty note on the windshield. Drivers ignoring one way signs is another pet peeve of mine. The place where I shop has a one way in and a one way out. Many drivers decide they are only going one way, the arrows notwithstanding. I got yelled at the other day for being in the middle of the road. The car with the yelling driver was going the wrong way. I rolled down my window and told the guy the street was one way, not his one way but mine. He still yelled.

It is usually quite difficult to merge across two lanes on busy streets here during the summer. A car can sit for a long while hoping for a break in traffic. A lot of cars don’t stop to let the waiting car out. I don’t get it. Would that minute it takes to let the car out cause them to miss a plane, a wedding or some other huge event? When a driver lets me out, I always wave and say thank you acknowledging their kindness. I let cars out often. Many wave and many ignore me. The other day I let a woman out into heavy traffic which would have kept her waiting a while. She didn’t acknowledge me. I said you’re welcome out my window. She heard me and gave me a look which could wither flowers. I didn’t get it. Being courteous is simple and doesn’t take a whole lot of effort. I smiled at her and drove away.