Senses Of Summer

A feast for the senses! The scents and sights and sounds from deep in the heart of summer...

• Newly mown grass
• Petrichor after a welcome, surprise thunderstorm
  
• Cool mint, mowed down right along with the grass
• Fresh dirt clinging to garden bounty
  
• BBQ grills fired up all over the neighborhood
• Fresh air and sunshine on line-dried laundry

• Sheet lightning in the distant nighttime sky
• Rainbows in the spray of the hose
• Neighborhood kids running through the shimmer of the lawn sprinkler
• Red and white striped tents at the farmers' market
• Piles of fresh veggies straight from the earth
• Fresh laundry billowing in the breeze
• Fireflies blinking their presence in the evening

• The crackle and sizzle of summer lightning
• The rumble of thunder early in the morning
• The plop of heavy drops on the sidewalk when the rain finally comes
• The trill of crickets and cicadas in the heat of the day
• Marching band music wafting up the hill from the high school
  
• The whirring of window fans, tower fans, box fans, ceiling fans...
• Kids splashing in the pool next door l-a-t-e into the night
• The snapping of sheets on the clothesline
• And did I mention the wind chimes on the front porch? Great in any season!
  

Ok, it looks like I'm enjoying summer a little too much. Don't forget, it is still August in Texas. It is still Africa-hot. It is too hot to escape the sweat running down inside your clothes. It is too hot to cook anything in the oven. It is too hot to sleep under a cover, even just a light sheet. So, on the other side...

• A hot dog, languishing in the sun
• The overpowering scent stench emanating from the too-infrequently-picked-up dumpster
• The rotting of the compost pile (although eventually this changes to rich chocolate-brown dirt, see #3 above)
• Mildew odors on wet towels
• Chlorine smells evaporating from swimming pools
• Sweaty clothes
• The acrid smoke from a grass fire

• Overweight women in if-this-size-fits-you-have-no-business-wearing-it bikinis at the public pool
  
• In any public place, the skimpiest of clothing leaving bra straps hanging out on the top, butt cheeks hanging out on the bottom, and nothing to the imagination
• Old men in short shorts exposing their hairy white legs and knobby knees
  
• Yards full of sad yellow grass
• Parched, wilted, saggy, droopy gardens

• LOUD crap rap music blaring from passing cars with their windows rolled down
• Air conditioners working overtime
• The ice cream truck coming down the street (The Princess calls it "the music truck.")
• The increased traffic of the comings and goings gearing up to start school (We live in a Bermuda Triangle amid three schools.)
• The screeched protest of an overworked fan
• Crispy, dead grass crackling underfoot
• Gangs of motorcycles revving up to hit the road
  

So. For better or for worse: Summer. In all its glory/misery.