It's hot. Who knew you could be excited about a forecast of 95?

Like so much of the country we have been under a heat spell with no rain.  June was a very dry month for us.  Our flowers are struggling, even with daily watering.  The grass is hopeless. 

I cannot imagine what it would have been like in the days before any kind of air conditioning.  My mom tells me that's why they would go spend the day at the movie theater--because they had air conditioning and you could get in for a quarter and stay all day.  When I was a very little girl we had a window air conditioner in the living room.  But not in the bedrooms.  Eventually we had them in bedrooms too and then finally we had central air. 

Over the last two weeks we have had eleven days that were 103 or higher.  And humid too.  And yet, no rain!  We had spotty showers come in on the July Fourth but beyond that, almost no rain for the last six weeks.  Sunday afternoon we had plenty of thunder and lightening but not as much rain as we hoped we might get. 

But the upside is that this week's forecast calls for high temps in the 90s rather than 100+.  I guess you just take what you can get and be glad it's not worse.

I'm a Leavin' on a Jet Plane. . .don't know when I'll be back again

Oh just kidding.  I don't fly.  Anywhere.  Ever.  Except when I was 3.  So that means I was last on an airplane. . .oh nevermind.  I'm not sharing how long it's been.  Who really cares how long it has been?  I will say that my sister was 4 at the time and we were flying home from a 2 week stint in another state with my parents (temporary job spot for my dad).  My sister and I had gotten sick so my mom flew home with us rather than make us do the long drive home.  I remember the inside of the plane was blue.  I remember fighting over who sat in the window seat.  And I remember my mom had these pink harnesses that we wore in the airport so we couldn't get away from her (People wrinkle their noses and think those harnesses are cruel but I never felt like a dog on a leash. . .it was just what we did and it made it possible for Mom to navigate the airport by herself with 2 small kids and luggage)

Anyways, anytime I hear this song I remember my one and only trip on a jet plane.  Oh yes, and it has to be the Peter, Paul and Mary.  Nothing else sounds right to me.

Take me out to the ballgame!

When I was a little girl my parents let us go to a lot of baseball games.  We were fortunate enough to have a minor league team in town and many businesses would sponsor the team and give away free tickets.  My dad recently told me that one year the team had something like 35 home games and we were at something like 28 games.  It was a good time for us.  I learned the game and got the chance to see players move up, some eventually playing in the majors and a few lucky guys made it into the World Series.

The team we have now is a part of a sort of "last chance" kind of league.  The guys give the game everything they have but they don't have a particularly great record.  But they do know how to get people out to the ballpark.  (I have to note here that as much as my husband loves sports, baseball is not his game.  Sad, isn't it?  But this explains the gaping hole in my children's cultural experiences)

A couple of nights ago our youngest was asked if she wanted to go to one of their games with a friend and her family.  She said yes.  When she got home she was sooooo excited.  She had gotten to go out on the field to run the bases.  She got to hang out after the game and get autographs.  She even got a baseball from the team and they signed it.  She was in heaven!

And she was especially excited that we had tickets for the very next day for a game too.  The team was celebrating a "heroes" day for military personnel.  My dad picked up a bunch of tickets for us but unfortunately, after we got into the park the rain started.  And it didn't not stop, which was good because we definitely needed rain.  But it meant that our perfect 4th of July game had to be postponed to the next night for a doubleheader!

It was hideously hot for the doubleheader.  We arrived late which was fine with me as it was going to be a long night.  We lost the first game but came back to win the second.  The girls (mostly) enjoyed the game.  At the end our youngest ran the bases again.  Such a sight to see.  My baby girl running the bases on a field where I spent so many evenings when I was her age.

As Cary Grant would say "good stuff."

I Miss Mayberry

RIP Andy Griffith. 

A bit late with my thoughts here.  He left our world on Tuesday.  And yet somehow fitting that it would be the day before the 4th of July.   At least it seems fitting to me.  Mayberry is the picturesque small town where everybody knows everybody--and their business but not in a bad way. 

A gentler time when Aunt Bea (or mom) was in the kitchen and the family gathered for meals every night. . .plus had hot breakfasts every morning.

A time when parents worked hard for their families and the kids knew their place in the family.

While I didn't grow up watching The Andy Griffith show in real time (re-runs only for this girl!) I did watch Matlock "back in the day."  It was another one of those good shows--clean language, good story line, good morals--the kind you are hard pressed to find on current tv.

He always seemed to portray the kind of guy you'd want for your dad or grandfather.  The one you wanted in your corner. . .the one who could find the solution to that problem that was nagging at you.

RIP

4th of July!

Ahhhh, the 4th of July.  Every country has one but the US has a great way to celebrate it!

Cookouts with friends and family followed up by fireworks. . .all night long. . .and for the weekends before, and after.  Ooooh and out in the country, it's a reason to hold target practice off your back deck shooting into the woods.  Oh yes, good times for sure.  Oops, I believe some sarcasm slipped in there.  The shooting off the deck doesn't annoy me all that much.  When we built our house, I knew who we were building next to and I was aware of their gun addiction.  But when it scares the kids it is a bit stressful.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

The Fourth of July!  Patriotism and good times.  We tend to celebrate with a cookout at our house, a small fireworks and sparklers display in the driveway (which is usually entirely stressful for at least one anxiety filled member of the family) and then we head off to my workplace to watch the city's fireworks display.  We are so lucky to be able to go to a quiet controlled spot for fireworks.  It is a patio with restricted access for employees and their families only.  Quite lovely.

I'm going to leave you today with one of my favorite 4th of July songs.  Have a good one!

Happy Hour

This can be classified as my new favorite treat.

I'm a fan of Sonic's happy hour anyway.  Limeades and Lemonberry slushes have been my treats for a while now.  But last week we stopped in and I saw the new Island Breeze Slushes so I said "what the heck" and got a pineapple slush.

Yummo!!! Cold--refreshing--sweet but not too sweet.  Perfect.

Everything but the kitchen sink!

The Pour House had amazing pizza.

I remember being introduced to it when I was very small.  My uncle called to order a pizza and it took so long to get it that they gave it to him for free. 

They were known for making pizzas however you wanted them (I know, everybody does this now but this was some thirty years ago before pizza became such a staple of life).  They were a little family owned business that had 2 locations, neither one of them was much to look at. 

The pizza they were most know for though was the one they called "Everything but the kitchen sink" because it was loaded with veggies and meats.  Since I wasn't a fan of mushrooms, anchovies or even sausage back then, it was not my favorite pizza but I do remember that overall their pizza was good.  The crust was unique--just crisp enough on the bottom but delightfully soggy from the spicy sauce. 

The sign to advertise their location was a big billboard with a pitcher of beer being poured.  Thus the Pour House. 

Wish they were still around.  While we have some good pizza places and a lot of chains, nothing quite compares to the Pour House.