Summer, when did I start to hate you? The seemingly unending heat, humidity, and often drought. With it just getting started I find that with each passing week I spend more time indoors. I get out before 8:00 am to mow, trim and do any gardening that needs to be done. Hiking is either a memory or a future plan. I am miserable. I find myself getting depressed. It hasn't helped that work is very boring, the days pass slowly. I would much rather be in the mountains, if I was retired - I probably would be. There was a time though that the heat didn't drive me indoors.
When I was a small child I played outside most of the time. To beat the heat we would play in the sprinkler or just with the water hose. Our house in Tom Bean had a window unit a/c and we would come stand in front of it to cool down. The few years in New Jersey was the same. It was not as hot there though as it was in Texas. My best friend Cathy had a small pool that we did get to jump into to cool off. We mostly just rode our bikes. Vacations were often trips to Colorado. The mountains are great in the summer. We lived outside on those trips. Once we moved to Austin I spent more time indoors as there just wasn't much to do in our neighborhood. My friend that lived next door wasn't allowed outside while her parents were at work so we had to hang out in her house. We occasionally went to the city pool for a few hours. I loved summer though. No school, just the freedom to play and hang out and know that a road trip for a week or two was always a fun escape. I would also spend time at my grandparents houses for a few weeks. At my Mom's parent's I'd help in the garden, pick and eat plums and peaches from their trees. Oh and my cousins and I played in the garden, with the collection of Tonka trucks. We also were always catching Horned Toads (lizards). They were abundant back in the 1960's. My Dad's parents home was in Dallas and didn't have much outside space. The highlight to staying there was going to work with my granddad at the Lakewood theater. Watching the movies from the projectionist booth was the best! We also got free popcorn from the concession stand. That is one of my happiest memories from my childhood.
Summers with my own kids were always fun. I was so lucky to be home with my older three. Trips to the pool (before we put our own pool in), yearly vacations much like I had as a child. They too spent time with grandparents. Summers were fun and I looked forward to the kids being off school. I wish I could have spent more time in the summer with Abate and Fantu, but we did take some great trips each year.
At my age now I really prefer to travel while school is in session so I don't have to compete with crowds, families and kids. It makes for long boring summers though. I do have a trip planned to go see Abate in Corpus Christi, but a Tropical Storm is now in the forecast and may put a damper on that trip.
I 'll hibernate for the next few months and just keep working on my plans for my Autumn hiking trip to Colorado. I'll dream of the cool mountain air or reminisce of summers long past to survive another brutal Texas summer.
That's me 1963, Cabin near Decker, Colorado
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