Magic in the Night

 

The sound of crickets fascinates me… mostly in the summer, cuz let’s face it…if you hear crickets in the winter, you’ve got more to worry about than crickets.

Right now, they’re on their last noisy legs, fighting the change of season and the ensuing evening chill.

Taken alone, most of you probably wouldn’t even notice a cricket...similar to my experience in High School.

You probably don’t even know what one looks like...and no, there’s no top hat and tails involved.

Summer Says So Long with Fall Felicitations

 

 

 

Summer slipped out of town early this morning, and to tell you the truth, it was ready. 

Summer worked hard this year and even put in some late season OT, cranking out mid 80 degree temps and sunshine, right up until the end. 

So believe me, there was no season more relieved than Summer to see Fall skipping into town carrying its assortment of pumpkins,cider, colorful foliage and all the other autumnal trappings Fall is famous for.

There was even a brief exchange between the two, right on the equinox, just before Summer happily slipped over the edge.

I have no idea what was said, but I think it might have had something to do with how tricky it is to operate the new toaster oven we picked up in July.

The Big Brrrrrrr

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Brrrrrrr has arrived.

In some ways, it’s a bit hard to believe.

Septem-brrrrrrr, already.

La-brrrrrrr Day, knocking on the door.

Seems as if it were just Janu-wary.

And by this time next week, a lot of people will be declaring summer over...at least unofficially.

But we were able to squeak out a couple of extra weeks from summer this year...unofficially I mean.

Summer, the official  season, is still the same number of days as it is every year, as it is for every season; approximately 90 days.

However, being the media brainwashed, marketing puppet pods that we are, we follow the rules of Memorial Day to La-brrrrrrr Day, to define our unofficial summer...and this year they are as far apart from each other as they could possibly be; May 25^th to Septem-brrrrrrr 7^th .

Last year the unofficial end of summer was Septem-brrrrrrr 1^st and some folks had already curled up into a fetal position in their beach chairs by now.  

Now I get a whole extra week before I...I mean...they have to do that.

Mad at the Moon

I was sitting on the beach the other day pondering some of life’s more ponderous questions; like why use “pondering” or “ponderous” when I could just say “thinking” or “difficult”?

Because it sounds smarter?

But what’s wrong with sounding smarter?

I know...ponderous...huh?

Or do we really have to add stuff to pretzels to make them taste better than they already do?

Cheerios, maybe....but pretzels?

There’s enough questionable stuff going on in the world that we really don’t need to pile on with anymore nonsense.

Do we?

So of course I have a few things to add that we all just take for granted as everyday occurrences, and merely look the other way.

Humid is as Humid Does - From Aug. 6, 2012

I know...I've been scarce lately.  Except around the belt line...I've been plentiful there.

We were off on another vacation last week.  Nothing dramatic as the last one.

Down at the shore for a few days, a hike in the woods, a baseball game, across to the shore over there.

So now I'm two vacations behind in my tale telling.

But I'm getting closer...I can feel it.

Unless that's just remnants of last night's eggplant parmigiana ....

Hard to tell.

In the meantime, while I ponder that....here's something from 2012 that seems pretty relevant....


 From August 6, 2012:
__________________________________


Humid is as Humid Does 

The humidity the last few days has been insidious and unrelenting.

Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh.

Perhaps insidious is too strong a word and not one really applicable to a large warm air mass…unless you’re referring to one of my distant cousins, twice removed (but always returns), on my great aunt's side.

I mean literally, the guy is attached to my great aunts side.

Weird.

I guess the better word for it is insufferable, because that’s what it is…insufferable, defined:

“So annoying, unpleasant, or uncomfortable as to be unbearable….”

Hey...why does that make me feel self-conscious?

Even weirder, huh?

Maybe I was a little too quick to heap all those nice words on August the other day.

It’s not really keeping up its end of the bargain, is it?

Fat Summer! - From August 8, 2011

I was thinking of declaring this "Repeat Summer" since it seems that's all I've been capable of turning out here on these pages since July.  But in truth...and sometimes lies...I regret to  say, I must once again go back to the summer of 2011 and drag Fat Summer out again...both in spirit and in girth. 

Yeah, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Fat Summer just seems to be a mainstay, with me.

In fact it just plain stays on me...year after year after belly busting year.

From August 8th, 2011:

________________________________

Fat Summer

It’s official.

Vacation is over and it's time to declare….

In the past we’ve had Dragon Fly Summer, due to the unusual proliferation of dragon flies in the area.

Flip Flop Summer, for they seemed to be everywhere that year, too, even though, as I said in the recent past, I disdain them for personal use due to my hairy toes.

Turtle Summer (see Dragon Fly Summer above).

Nasty Rash Summer, of which I won’t trouble you with the details.

And now.…

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…..

As 2011 was...now 2015 has been officially designated as….

 Fat Summer….

Yep...that's right....

Fat Summer....

I thought in February it could be avoided. Thought there was oodles of time (oodles?) to shed a few pounds or 15.

Thought the same in March, April even May.

But once June settled in, I knew…I was sunk.  Those 15 pounds weren’t going anywhere. 

Too many G & T's and Summer Brew enhanced sunsets on the deck.

Too many bagels and cream cheese breakfasts as I retorted.

About August - From August 1, 2012

I couldn't help noticing that it's suddenly August; the month that creates pits in some summer folks' stomachs.  But, for the most part, August gets a bum rap...back to school ads be damned. 

Here's why... 

From August 1, 2012:


______________________________

About August

The best thing about August is it’s not September…or October…or any of the other brrrrrrrrrrr months.

But they're getting close….and that makes a lot of us feel a little claustrophobic, as if the season of lilting leaves is starting to close in on us.

Yeah…I know…a little dramatic.

Some folks call it the dog days of summer....


Not sure how the dogs feel about that...let alone August.

August is actually one of the busiest vacation months there is; probably one of the nicest as well.

After a hot sweltering start, a gift passed on from its pal July, August often begins to cool a little, especially in the evenings.

The muggy haze of a sweltering mid-summer begins to give way to a succession of clear comfortable nights where the stars are just a fingertip away.

So enjoy it and stop your whining….

August is really kind of like the Wednesday of months.  Kind of stuck in a bad spot on the calendar, through no fault of its own.

I mean really, when you think about it, it’s not that much different than July…without the fireworks.


Besides...have any of us been all that thrilled with July's performance this year?


July....

The beaches are in peak form in August. The water is warm, when you need it to be warm and cool when you need it to be cool.

August is very accommodating in that way…in a lot of ways…it has to be.