Whatever Wednesday - July Joy

July in Texas and out come the heat memes.  And they capture the moments. 

Meanwhile I am in Pinehurst, NC hanging with the ladies.  It's  the gang and we've converged to enjoy a week of laughs, chat, book club, and more.  Will Pinehurst ever be the same?    Ha!

This is the honest to God truth.  No real cold water out of the tap until  October. 

We are in training here for Hell.  I am ready!
 

Lazy Friday and Weekend Post

Lazy hazy crazy days of summer.  Ray and I are off to San Saba Texas this weekend to see his aunt. I'm packed. Just have to get through work on Friday.  It will be too hot to really do anything, so my
bag of reading material is bigger than my clothes bag.

Just for fun - here are pics from the Kimbell the other weekend - they had water lilies in honor of their Monet exhibit.

Two more pics are from San Saba from a previous trip.

And the final pic is one of me at the Fort Worth Water Gardens. That's to cool off you folks!

Have a fun,safe,  and relaxing weekend. No heat stroke allowed. Laughter in the shade.

Crazy from the Heat

Dateline - Texas (i.e Hell, Hades, Satan's home)  I have whined a lot this week and Ray's put up with it.  Earlier today this weather station showed 108. Ugh. I had brunch at a friend's house. When I came out my car thermometer read 112. Double Ugh!

Our pool is 95 degrees.............think about that. It's a spa, a lobster boil, not very refreshing, even warm for Ray.  Yes, we have a pool and this is a first world problem. I am aware. But I am whining.

Friday I left for work at 7:15 am and it was 85.  Ray (now semi-retired and off on Fridays) planned to mow our yard.  I told him, "Get it done before 9 am or 90 degrees. You only have 5 degrees to work with....).  I don't want to come home and find him passed out in the back yard. Triple Ugh!

I've used the heat excuse for not really cooking, not really doing anything, and not doing a decent blog post.   This is my lazy Monday post done on Sunday night. I'm not proud of myself. I've been reading. I've been to some movies. I lack motivation.

So I'm turning off the comment section. I know you kind folks. You'll offer sympathy on the heat, and generally excuse my slack-off behavior.  Do not enable me, my friends. I shall get my act together.

A "cool" spell is promised....it might be only 99 on Tuesday and I shall kick back into gear. Until then...enjoy your "weather" wherever you are. And if you are whining at 80 degrees or so...yes, I'm calling you a wimp. Suck it up, buttercup!

Crazy from the Heat

 We hoped for rain this weekend. As of Saturday evening, this has not occurred. I whine. Oh, feel sorry for Ray because I whine this time of year.  August in Texas is a true glimpse of hell..........

Friday - 7:51 am it was 86 degrees F.  Yowza.........
When I walked across the prairie field at 1 pm to fetch our work mail, I returned and said, "It's you-almost-want-to-throw-up hot."  and my worker bee guys agreed. Soul sapping

Leaving work at 3:04 on Friday, the car registered 104F - that is insane.........

I got home and it was back to a "cool" 95.  So, yes, I am whining. Friends back east who claim it's "hot" - pshaw.......

I have faced hell, I am in hell, it's Dante Inferno hell...........

Cheers!   (And that's why I go to the movies........the cinema is air conditioned to the max - worth every bit of my $5 matinee price)

Wordless Wednesday, Torrid Thursday, and Fried Friday

Almost officially summer, but our Texas thermometer is pushing 100. Whew! The crepe myrtle is in full glory, the flamingo signals summer fun, and the moss rose brightens my day.

 Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling - Walt Whitman  1865

Old Walt obviously did not sit and fry on my Texas patio.

Sweltering Sage

Summer in Texas. I'm currently lacking imagination. Awake to 80s, Asleep to high 90s. Beware touching any body parts to exposed car seats, steering wheel, all metal pieces. Towels on lawn chairs prior to outdoor activity. The pool is a huge spa. Yes, I'm grateful for a pool. Now I want it not just wet, but cold.

Thesaurus words: heat, sweat, swelter, stew, simmer, boil, smolder, parch, torrid, tropical, sultry, stifling,suffocating, oppressive, hellish = Texas

There's always a bright side. The purple sage that bakes on the west side of the house burst into full glory.

The average number of days over one hundred degrees in a Texas summer is fifteen. We are on our fourteenth day, having started in May this year. The longest stretch was 1980 with over sixty days, and the highest recorded temperature of 113. I'm satisfied if we don't break that record.

I am working on flash fiction for the Hot August Nights issue of Doorknobs and Bodypaint. Surely, I have enough experience to write a steamy tale. Backdrop - a sweltering sage.

Heated Words

After a heatstroke inducing trip to Arizona one year (Honest to God, the GPS lost its mind - had no clue where it was in the hot car), we did come away with one awesome idea - misters. My handy husband said, "I can do that" and indeed installed connective hoses on our patio overhang. Now in crazy heatstroke inducing Texas summer, we turn on the mister system and cool down poolside. It works - physically and mentally.

Let's talk about hot movies. One of my favorites is Body Heat, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Ted Danson. My favorite line from Mattie is "You're not too smart are you? I like that in a man." Oh baby. And when she steps out onto the patio with all the windchimes - indeed, you think it'll be a breath of fresh air. But the tinkling chimes only beckon you to the hair dryer effect.

How about A Time to Kill - Ashley Judd and Matthew McC. spritzing all over the place in Mississippi. Good read by John Grisham, decent flick.

The Long Hot Summer - classic Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. There's acting royalty steaming up the screen.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie the cat, and again Paul Newman. Meow

White Heat - can't go wrong with classic Jimmy Cagney

Here's proof folks - the temp at 5:21 pm on Sat. 7/11 was 104 F on our patio. I'm afraid the wireless sensor could implode soon.

Hot television - F/X features Rescue Me on Tuesday nights. Sure there's plenty of sexual heat outside the firehouse, but frankly the dialogue in the firehouse is snappy, snarky, and hilarious. Great writing.

Starting soon on AMC - Mad Men 1960s Madison Avenue advertising. Slick sets, great characters and writing, plus January Jones with Jon Hamm. It doesn't get much hotter.

So, there's plenty of ways to cool off and survive the heat. There's always Fargo - probably one of the snow whitest, coldest looking sets for a movie. But sharp, funny, sick (in a good way) dialogue with Bill Macy and Frances McDormand - cool, very cool filmmaking.

Tell me your HOT picks for summer.........books, tv, movies - old and new............

Joanne