Friday Five: Hot Fun in the Summertime

I promised a blog post and here it is!

Songbird at RevGalBlogPals has had some summer troubles. She writes:

“It's possible I may have a bad attitude about the arrival of summer. On the eve of the Solstice I left for a mission trip to a town in Maine bordering Quebec. Beset by a swarm of bloodthirsty black flies, and a "classic allergic reaction" according to the PA at the Urgent Care, I had to return the next morning to a week of Benadryl and ice packs. (If only I had known about Bug Band *before*...)
But I don't want that to ruin summer for the rest of you. So I invite you to share five things you love--or don't--about summer. The tone is up to you!”

1. LOVE: West Denmark Family Camp! We’re going there next week! We will have group singing, watch the folk dancing, listen to interesting people speak and discuss, see cousins real and honorary, have wonderful meals cooked by local organic farmers with some of their own produce, and of course be with Sisterfilms and The Traveller. After that we will go to City of Lakes to see SonShineIn and The Collector and a lot of old friends. WDFC has been part of nearly all our summers for 33 years now and we hope it continues for many more.

2. HATE: excessive heat and humidity. The heat is not so bad here as it sometimes was in the Midwest, but we do sometimes get a humidity that makes 65 degrees feel like 95. The doors stick, salt and spices lump up in their containers, and no one feels much like doing anything.

3. LOVE: summer fruits and vegetables. Onkel Hankie Pants, as we speak, is picking strawberries for the church Strawberry Festival. Maybe after he’s picked his quota he will have time to pick a quart for us! Later there will be raspberries and blueberries, eventually tomatoes, summer squashes, and all the other bounty of the farmer’s market.

4, LOVE: flowers. Walking Rusty, I get to enjoy my neighbors’ gardens with daylilies, peonies, old roses, new roses, etc. OHP has planted some new flowers on the sunny north side of the house, and a lupine and irises have already bloomed. We expect gladioli and maybe even dahlias as well as lilies. Hoping for peonies next year, as we bought some at a garage sale along with more hostas for the mostly-shady parts of our yard.

5. LOVE: Rusty’s new summer haircut. I like him as a shaggy dog and with the classic Springer cut, but this cut (built for exploring woods and beaver ponds!) makes his hair so satiny ! It was a bit disconcerting at first though, as he looked like a whole different dog. Here is a picture. I was pleased to not that (although it doesn’t look that way in the photo of him sleeping) he had not really gained weight over the winter.

So, although summer isn’t my favorite season, I’ve found more “loves” than “Hates” for it. Now for your listening pleasure, two renditions of a song my father used to sing to me:

(He may have learned it from someone who heard this recording!)

And from another icon of my childhood days: