Finally Friday - It's Primetime Summertime and the heat is on

The heat is on  in  Texas.  Not excessive - just "normal".  But whew!  

Summertime...An' the livin' is easy - Ira Gershwin from Porgy and Bess

Spray on enough bug spray and hammock time is comfortable at 8:30 pm.  A lovely hang out

The hammock sky view. 

1836  Ralph Waldo Emerson  The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is because man is disunited with himself. 

Peace and Love is needed. Ray and  I attended our local fireworks in person.  We walked to the park about an hour ahead of time. The place was packed - a good band was playing, kids were running about, folks were eating, talking, and laughing.  Black, brown, white - any and all just there to enjoy July 4th. 

Everyone was behaving and having fun. Outdoors. Personal interaction. I actually felt the overall good vibe.  We need that every day. 

We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.  Ben Franklin  July 4, 1776.

Are not the mountains, waves, and skies a part of me and my soul, as I of them?   Lord Byron 1812

 

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.

Pool Pause

 Here's a snapshot of the past Sunday at our house.  We were celebrating summer birthdays - Ray, Bobby, Kevin, Maria, Becky, Makyla, and Hunter.  Tough times floating in the pool. That's how we roll

 It all went well until time to leave.  Then Skylar (age 2) above with her mother, had a complete I'm-so-tired-from-swimming-meltdown. Oh well. The party isn't a success until there are tears.  Too much sugar and salt water

And then someone chose to nap through the day....always a good option.  Dakota - age 2 months did not don a swimsuit

Happy mid-week everyone...........let's countdown to the weekend once again.

 Happy Birthday to all of you summer "kids"!

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)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

 Oh lazy Tuesday night.  The brain says - pull together a blog post for Wednesday. Keep your fans interested.

 The lazy brain says - ah, it's summer. No one cares.  Let the clouds roll by and just swim laps. (I did)

 Lett's paint the picture in Bedford TX (right smack dab between Dallas and Fort Worth). The heat builds during the day. A blue sky slowly fills with clouds. Perhaps a rumble of thunder? Perhaps nothing. We had eight raindrops with sunshine. No rainbow. Other parts of the area are drenched. You never know. The cicadas are LOUD

 our wacky creature sculpture merely observes the seasons and tries to NOT corrode

My sun sculpture bakes against the brick. I have not measured that temperature but it's HOT

and that's a late June day in TX..............now to plunge back into the pool (that measures 90 degrees F!!)

Crazy

Serenity Saturday

 Summer is here.  The first bloom on the crape myrtle burst onto the patio scene. In a week, the tree will be glorious

 You have to peek out early for the Mexican petunia blooms

We had this hacked back to nothing at the end of the year. It's going crazy once again and seems to thrive against the hot summer brick

Stay cool on this serene Saturday

Summer: Sultry or Sulky and Soccer

First day of summer and it's sultry in Texas. We should be mid-90s today and humid.

The chance of sulky was very high this morning. I ran to Kohl's to check out their swimsuit sale. I realized this week that a few of the suits I had were revealing far more than necessary. I swim a lot and the pool just does its wear and tear. But I have to be in the right frame of mind to undergo the agony of trying on swimsuits. The potential for shrieking in the change room was very high. However - success. I found two suits that were modest, promised a "slimming effect", and they weren't hideous. Whew!

Today, June 21st, my mother would have been 82. She passed at age 60. I commented in an email to my father that it's hard to picture how she'd look, etc if she had lived. I figure she'd be even tinier, with her very neat wavy hair a silver white color. My father agreed that it's difficult to project - she's frozen in time for us.

She liked football - American. Not soccer football. World Cup is huge and I read a bit, but haven't watched it. Ray turns it on but tends to move on - he said he can't stand "the flopping about for fake injuries" and the "run here, run here, run pass, run pass, run pass and nothing seems to happen."

Guys I work with were commenting too - "Hey, it's a round ball. Every kid can kick it along. At least American football takes a funny bounce. Could be more interesting if they used a bowling ball." Ouch.

No respect, World Cup fans. No respect from we self-absorbed non-fans. Sorry

So, it's Sangria Saturday. Waiting on some friends to come for a pool float and visit. Snacks and sangria in flamingo glasses.

Summertime and the living is easy..........in my new swimsuit (I'm going with the black one today)

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.

July Fourth Week - Summer Break

 Summer break. Vacation. Hiatus. Laziness. Whatever you want to call it, I'm doing it. But I also wanted to celebrate July 4th week. So Happy Birthday America!

Fireworks, Picnics, Boating, Swimming, Dairy Queen, Croquet, Beach Volleyball, Driving,
Wimbledon (Thank you England), watermelon, s'mores, reading trash and blasting tunes. Ain't life grand?

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

God Bless America

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

A Geyser of Writing Dreams

Here's a flash back to summer 2006. Old Faithful. Amazing, fantastic, awe inspiring. Notice the lovely blue sky and cool clouds in the picture. This was back when Ray had a crappy annoying job, but tons of vacation time. There's a tradeoff, I guess. You pay to play somehow, some way. Thus we enjoyed a two week road trip.

6/25/09 Orange Air Alert - Avoid Outdoor Activity. Hooray - a blessing to sit inside and read and write. Unfortunately chores must still be completed. Hence.......

I mowed the lawn today before it hit 100 degrees. It rained last night - one hour, one inch of torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightening. Thus my plan to mow early was blown and I waited for less soggy grass this morning. But I also wanted to beat the heat - now that's tricky. By the time I finished the front, I was soaking wet before jumping into the pool. Aahh, but that cut my temperature and delirium.

My leap into the pool did not quite create a geyser. And the sky above is a tainted blue/gray nasty haze. But the job got finished and I worked on a Chicken Soup story, a poem inspired by the local 7-11 parking lot, and a critique for a friend. It might be time to head back out to the pool for a lazy dip and a good read. (current choice: The Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke - quirky and fun so far)

Time to flash forward and live in the moment and then perhaps write to rekindle travel memories.

Joanne