Posted tagged ‘summer’
July 31, 2025
The 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.
Categories: Musings
Tags: dance cards, girl scouts, hiking, nature, sloths, summer
Comments: Comments Off on “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
July 29, 2025
It 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.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Air conditioner, Bolgatanga, Ghana, heat, popsicles, summer, summer-hibernation
Comments: 2 Comments
June 20, 2023
Today is lovely. It is sunny and bright and in the high 60’s. This, for me, is perfect weather. Even the nights are wonderful with temperatures in the mid 50’s, light blanket and snuggling weather.
Nala and her cone are at odds. She comes to an impasse and stands with her head down. If I don’t see her, I go hunting. If she is out, I keep checking the backdoor as she can’t get in by herself, but she does sleep well with her head resting on her cone and often on me.
The concert yesterday was wonderful. The weather was perfect, the crowd was enthusiastic. Because of the dogs, I didn’t played all last week so I was loving being back with my uke.
When I was a kid, I loved everything about summer. The trees were heavy with leaves. I could find chestnuts below the tree at the top of the road. I’d smash them with a rock then eat the nut, the fruit. On rainy days, I’d go outside and get wet. I’d run in the rain and kick up the water in the gutters. I’d let paper boats float in the rapid water like the scene in the movie It though without Pennywise. I could stay outside later. The streetlights were no longer my curfew. Every day was mine to do what I wanted. I wasn’t a sloth back then. I was busy every day.
When I lived in Ghana, I had a lot of free time. My house was on school grounds so it only took a few minutes to get to class. In between classes, I’d walk home and usually have another cup of coffee while sitting on the porch. In the afternoons, I’d prepare classes and then read for the rest of the day, my routine until Bill and Peg moved to my school. We’d always eat dinner together and then have game nights. I played my music. I had a cassette recorder and tapes. I didn’t have a transformer, only an adapter, but I did have an amazing electrician. He attached a Christmas sort of bulb to the adapter to suck up the extra wattage. The bulb was red. It lit up the wall. I always thought it kind of festive.
My life now more than any other time resembles my Peace Corps days. I have unlimited time to read. I play my music but without the red bulb, a loss of sorts. I often take afternoon siestas. I shop at outside farmers’ markets.
Every day something reminds of Ghana. For that I am grateful.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chestnuts, Ghana, paper planes, Peace Corps, rain, summer
Comments: 2 Comments
June 21, 2018
Today is the solstice, the longest day of the year, the official start of summer, and Mother Nature has gifted us with a beautiful day, a summer day with a bit of a breeze and lots of sun.
When I was a kid, summer started when school was out for the year. It was glorious. I had two full months to do whatever I wanted, well, mostly whatever I wanted. It was actually whatever my mother let me do or whatever she didn’t know I did.
I remember going barefoot at the start of the summer and having every rock and stone hurt my feet, and I remember hopping one foot to the other on the hot pavement as it burned the soles of my feet, but it didn’t take long for my feet to harden, and I could walk anywhere and on any surface. My summer attire was always shorts and a blouse, mostly a sleeveless blouse. If I had to go anywhere, I wore sneakers, low, white Converse sneakers, with socks. The only time I wore a dress was to go to mass on Sunday.
We never had a set bedtime in the summer. I can remember sitting outside on a warm summer night. The outside light attracted all sort of bugs, and I’d watched them circle the light or bang into the screen. I used to go inside by the front door so I wouldn’t bring in the bugs.
My mother kept the living room shades down in the summer. She said the darkness kept the room cooler. Upstairs was always hot. I remember tossing and turning and trying to fall asleep.
Summer mornings are favorites of mine. The air is still cool, the birds are singing and the garden smells divine in the morning air. I love to sit on the deck with my coffee and papers. Sometimes I just sit there taking in what I can hear, smell and see. I always feel a sense of solitude, a sense of peace.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Converse, going barefoot, Solstice, summer
Comments: 17 Comments
March 8, 2018
The rain came yesterday in the mid-afternoon and stayed all night. It was sometimes so heavy it pelted the roof loudly enough to drown out the TV. Boston and further north had snow, a wet, heavy snow, the sort which looks beautiful for a minute then you notice how laden down the trees and branches are, and you hope they survive. Some wires fell from the weight of the snow and even blocked major roads. Here the sun has been trying to come out of the clouds. Twice now the sky has brightened. I get hopeful. I need sun to dispel my dark mood, a mirror of the rain and the clouds.
My Travelocity gnome and my pink, plastic flamingo are in the den. They winter here. In the warm months they live on my deck. It is a special occasion when they travel from winter to summer, from the den to the deck. I always think there should be a parade and music. They are announcing summer is finally here, a cause for celebration, for good food, and for warm days lolling on the deck. Right now, though, all of that seems a sweet memory.
From when I was kid, I remember winter most of all. My school was an old one with high windows and drafts of cold air so for most of the winter we all wore sweaters. I remember walking across the field below my street, a sort of shortcut home, and having to walk backwards because of the wind. My cheeks turned red and numb. The wind blew up the sleeves of my coat. My ears always hurt even when I was wearing a hat as it mostly just covered my head so I’d put my mittened hands over my ears trying to warm them just a bit. Mostly I failed. By the time I’d get home, I was freezing. Right away I’d take off my school clothes and get into my pajamas and slippers. I’d wrap myself in my blanket. In a short while, I was warm and all the parts of my body had come back to life.
I have no energy today, and I don’t care. It is the weather which is causing this foul mood. A bit of sun is all I need.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Clouds, deck, den, fallen wires, heavy snow, mittens, moods, numb ears, pink flamingo, rain, Snow, summer, Travelocity gnome, winter
Comments: 10 Comments
January 1, 2018
I woke up warm and toasty this morning. The comforter was even a bit too much last night. Yesterday at this time nothing was warm, not my nose, my feet, Maddie’s fur or Gracie all over. Both of them are sleeping now.
The freezing weather continues. This morning there was a short snow shower of flaky, light snow. It was almost a whiteout. The old snow now looks new, fitting for today, though I doubt even an inch of snow fell, and it has since stopped. It is freezing cold, only 9˚. The high today will be 15˚ though I have no idea in what world we can call 15˚ a high. The sun has broken through the clouds and brought a bit of blue with it. I think of it as a bit of a celebration to welcome the new year.
I don’t make resolutions. I used to, but I was a complete failure. I have a few hopes, but I make no promises to myself. I’d like to think this year will be better than last. The eternal optimist in me won’t let go. It holds sway. That’s just the way it is.
My life has a rhythm. Even on days I do little or nothing, I still feel alive, open to anything which comes my way. My friends and I have traditions we love and look forward to every year. On the first day of spring we welcome the new season at sunrise on the beach where the waves sometimes have whitecaps and sometimes are very still but are always dependable hitting the shore and leaving ripples in the sand. We sing the same songs year to year. Morning Has Broken is my favorite. We hold up our Day of the Dead decorated cookies expecting praise and maybe even a bit of awe at the hidden talents we all have. The summer is our deck time with movies every Saturday night. We love the breeze going across the deck and the fireflies flitting through the trees in the backyard. We laugh at the wonderfully awful B science fiction movies. We decorate gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. We share Christmas Day dinner and swap presents. I know this new year will be different, but I know too the familiar will happen in the same loving way.
My memory drawers are so full but there is still room in the back for new memories. I welcome each new year with open arms. It’s possibility, it’s hope and it’s glorious adventures.
Happy New Year, my friends!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: -9˚, 15˚, cloiudy, Day of the Dead, first day of spring, Gingerbread, Happy New Year, memories, no sun', resolutions, rhythm, snow shower, summer, tradition, warm and toasty
Comments: 11 Comments
October 5, 2017
The sun is bright, the sky is an amazing blue, and the breeze is ever so slight, all combining to make for a perfectly lovely day, summer’s return engagement for this week anyway.
When I was a kid, this was the golden season when all the leaves turned yellow. I know there must have been other colors, but it is the yellow I remember the most, the yellow I can still see in my mind’s eye. Fallen leaves covered the sidewalks, and most times I’d kick them into the air as I walked to school. As the leaves dried, they made a crunching sound and broke apart when we walked on them. The wind took the pieces. I remember October as a warm month when a sweater or a light jacket was enough.
My only bad memory of October was having to go inside earlier and earlier as the days got shorter and shorter. I sort of felt cheater.
I have been lazy. I read most of yesterday and finished the book I got on Tuesday from the library. My to do list didn’t shrink. My halloween decorations are still in the cellar. The bird feeders are now really low on seed. I just have to get motivated.
I’m get to binge on sports today. The Sox open their series with the Astros at 4 and the Pats play against the Buccaneers at 8:20.
My dad would have loved to have seen the success of the Patriots. His allegiance switched from the Giants when the Pats came into being. He was always a home team fan. He loved football and hockey the most. He was only a so so fan of baseball and didn’t enjoy basketball at all. He and I had opposite favorites, but I do watch the Pats but never the Bruins.
Time is passing so very quickly. September was gone in heartbeat. If I were still a kid, I’d love such a quick passage, but now I want time to go slowly so I can savor every minute.
Categories: Musings
Tags: blue sky, breeze, bright sun, Buccaneers, crumbled leaves, fallen leaves, lazy, Patriots, Red Sox, short days, summer, warm October, yellow
Comments: 10 Comments
July 20, 2017
The weather has settled into monotony. Every day is sunny and hot. We reached the mid 80’s yesterday while Boston was over 90˚. The shade was bearable, but the sun was unrelenting. The only times I went outside were to bring Gracie to the yard where I sat in the shade and waited for her.
I did nothing yesterday and will probably do nothing today as well. A dump run is in our future but probably tomorrow. I do need to water the plants, inside and outside, but that’s it.
When I was a teacher, I traveled every summer, mostly to Europe, and went for three or four weeks. I traveled on the cheap. Go Europe was my travel Bible. University housing and hostels were my hotels as such. Meals were sometimes at bar happy hours where I’d nurse a single drink until I’d eaten my fill or at railroad stations which had kiosks with cheap sandwiches. I usually traveled with a friend. B&B’s were sometimes our stops mostly through Ireland, Scotland and England. I remember one in London, in Earl’s Court. The owner barely spoke English and played music quite loud from the kitchen which was next to my room. The song I remember best is Cielito Linda with the damn ay, ay, ay. I swear it was played over and over. My favorite B&B was in Dingle Ireland. It was over a grocery store. The woman was old. She entertained us with stories about guests including the Frenchman who didn’t know how to eat Corn Flakes and another who wanted a facecloth. She laughed at the thought that the face had its own cloth. Breakfasts were eggs, bacon, toast and coffee and sometimes a grilled tomato. The hostels were cheap enough but didn’t offer breakfast, but they had a value of their own. Hostels were where I’d trade books and information with other travelers. All these trips were cheap enough that I could saved enough money every year for a summer in Europe.
Last year’s trip to Ghana was expensive enough for a couple or even close to three trips to Europe in the old days, but I was perfectly fine with that. I enjoyed the lap of luxury as if I had been born to it.
Categories: Musings
Tags: B&B, breakfast, cheap travel, England, Europe, hostel, hostels, hot, Ireland, monotomy, shade, summer, sunny, travel, water plants, weather
Comments: 14 Comments
July 7, 2017
“Okay, I am in crisis mode as my laptop isn’t working. It stopped last night. Now it makes a noise and the battery isn’t recharging. The computer boots but I am warned about the low battery. I’m going to have to visit an Apple Store. I am using my iPad, and I hate it for typing. The keyboard is either too small or my fingers are too large.
Today is humid and chilly, the sort of chill that goes to the bone because of the dampness. It wasn’t raining when I went out with the dog, but as soon as we got outside, the rain started. Of course it did.
Last night the back outside lights didn’t come on. I have to check them, but I’m thinking the spawns ate them again. They ate red lights off the last sets so I’m wondering what color attracted them to this set. I swear the spawns who come here are crazy. There was the summer of the paint eating spawn who gnawed all the black paint off the chair arms. This one may be related.
The mouse trap is still vacant of any resident. It is filled with peanut butter. Either the mouse isn’t hungry or there are no more kitchen mice.
The summer has been uneventful. It is still early, I know, but nothing is planned. Last year I had Ghana ahead of me. That set the bar so very high that little will compete with the excitement and the countdown of the days watching the trip get closer and closer.
When I look at my pictures from Ghana, there is still a sense of amazement. I was in Africa. I wonder if my far younger me would believe I had lived there and it had an every day quality about it. I know I mention Ghana here often, but it is so much a part of whom I am I can’t help but write about it. It shines so brightly in my memory banks. The colors and sounds are so vivid. Going back has only intensified my feelings about Ghana and the wonderful Ghanaians.
I can only hear the rain.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Apple, computer, damp, Ghana, life, mouse trap, rain, rainy, summer
Comments: 22 Comments
June 10, 2017
Summer has arrived. Today is already a lovely day with lots of sun giving lots of heat. It will be in the low 70’s here. This room is still dark and cool as the sun hasn’t yet worked its way around the house. I went out earlier and needed to turn on the car’s AC as Gracie was with me. I left it on when I stopped. She threw up all of yesterday’s food so I was hoping to find something to entice her. I bought a frozen dog treat but she didn’t want it. I gave it to the dog in the next car, and he licked every bit of it. I know she is hungry as she keeps checking her dish, but I can’t find anything she wants. The lady whose dog ate the frozen treat suggested tuna dog treats. I came home and checked the recipe on-line. I just have to go and buy the tuna. I’ll try anything.
It is a noisy Saturday. I can hear lawn mowers from all over the neighborhood, no kids though. I wonder where they are. I’m guessing baseball and t-ball.
A warm, summer Saturday is about the best of all days. It invites us outside to enjoy the weather. It is a day meant for sitting on the deck to enjoy the warmth tempered by a slight breeze. Inside the house can stay dusty, and the laundry can wait a day or two or even more. I know that from experience.
My deck is still closed. The furniture covers got soaked the other night so yesterday I emptied the water caught in the folds. The deck floor is covered with leaves and debris from that last storm. My factotum, Skip, is coming Monday. I have a long list for him to do. He has to clean out the shower as it is filled with the gnawed pieces of pinecones. I still see the spawn of Satan around that shower. He is in for a rude awakening.
The exterminator came back yesterday to plug the mouse holes around the foundation. He figured by now the mice would have moved to a more exalted place, and the cellar does have a peculiar odor. I’m thinking dead mice or decomp as they call it on TV.
I still have flowers to buy before Skip comes, at least the deck flowers. I always think flower shopping is about the best of all shopping sprees. I just can’t help myself and always load the cart. Flowers are intoxicating.
Categories: Musings
Tags: clean house, deck weather, dog treats, dog tuna brownies, lawnmowers, lovely day, no kids, pine cones, Saturday, spawn of satan, summer, sunny, to do list, warm
Comments: 6 Comments
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