Monday July 26, 2010...Summers of the past

Life goes on. The skunks have left and we feel less trapped. The swamp has dried out because of the heat of the last few weeks. We've been in the 90s with high humidity every day. One good thing about the weather is that it makes the grass go dormant so mowing is done less often. We did have a strong windstorm a couple of weeks ago. It uprooted trees and broke huge branches off of various trees in the neighborhood. Many limbs fell across streets and power lines so access was limited and power was out for several days. We had to buy dry ice for the freezer and refrigerator. We gathered up many piles and sacks of broken branches for the city to pick up.

Now that the hubbub is over, we can get back to the lazy hazy crazy daze of summer. We can now go outside without fear of mean, rabid skunk gangs.

I miss the large elm trees that surrounded my childhood home. On a hot summer day we would be outside under the trees enjoying the cool shade. Back then nobody had air conditioning so the house had all the windows open and we all hoped for summer breezes. At night we had window fans or the attic fan that would pull evening air across the beds for relief. A summertime drive to cool off and maybe get an ice cream cone was nice on the weekend when dad and the car were there. On a hot day we would run through a sprinkler or soak in a wash tub of cool water. Summer drove everyone outside, so we visited with our neighbors. Evenings would find folks out on their front porches in their porch swings waiting for the house to cool off. We would sit there and listen to the crickets or the cicadas sing their songs.

Summers now drive everyone inside to their air conditioned homes to watch the television. We don't often see our neighbors and get little exercise. We have exchanged our comfort for a whole new solitary lifestyle.