Saturday, July 13, 2013

Summertime, and the living ain't easy.



I have yet to really enjoy my summer. Already hitting the middle of July and I haven't done any beach combing. Not one piggy has tested water. I haven't skipped a single rock. Heck, I'm still working on my first sunburn. I think I may have managed to toast my knees earlier today before a hornet chased me back inside and off the deck. The only thing I have managed to collect are bug bites. Frankly, we've had too much rain and consequently, a mosquito population explosion.

Right now, flowers are in bloom. Fragrance is wafting through my screens, and I'm still patting down the dog before I let him back in the house because mosquitoes and biting flies collect on him like leeches. Then they come find me, usually while I'm typing away at the table, my bare feet crossed at the ankles and perched on one of the other chairs. Sometimes my feet will claim two chairs. Just depends on my mood. I'll be quite content actually, until I start feeling things on my bare legs. Once you're hyper-aware of that, you feel everything, mostly imaginary, but not always.

I really do want to get outside and enjoy myself without a coating of oily bug spray. Blinking stinging sweat out of your eyes while you're pushing a mower isn't a lot of fun. We have this lovely hammock, suspended between two shady maples across the lawn. I love looking out at it, waving gently in the breeze. I imagine myself relaxing in it with a book. Naturally I'd doze off ... and wake up looking like I contracted chicken pox. You can't even cross the yard to get to the lazy hammock without stirring up clouds of bugs.

I'm going stir-crazy. I have cabin fever. I want to get out there and play yard games! Croquet?  You bet! Badminton? Bring it on! Give me bocce ball and goofy golf.  Heck, let me traipse around a golf course. I'd settle for mini-golf.  This was the year I was going to have my son teach me how to play disc golf. I love throwing things. I'm not necessarily good at it. A guy I know once said I was either Annie Oakley or Helen Keller. There is no middle ground with me. I'm either on or embarrassingly off and if it's one of those days, I'd better not be drinking anything because I'm going to be laughing so hard with everyone else I'd probably need to be wearing depends. One simply can't run fast when you're squeezing your knees together that hard.

But there is a glowing bug zapper in my future and I'm raring to go. I anticipate the insects will be down by the end of the month. That's when we have our annual cabin get together with friends. The company is wonderful, the wine & spirits in abundance. We'll take lots of boat rides, play indoor and outdoor games, laugh, and generally horse around.

Who knows, maybe the freckles on my nose will actually emerge this summer. Oh, and my new swimsuit is here! Just came this week. I'm so ready.  - Tara Mills



 

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