Summer Morning

Sunday was one of those perfect summer mornings. Well I should say that’s by my definition of perfect – your mileage may vary. We were up early enough so the sun hadn’t burned off the cool of the night and there was a light breeze. Perfect for a walk because the wind and shade kept you from getting too hot.

The simple pleasure of summer is not having to think about how many layers you need to put on to be comfortable. For me, the shorts and t-shirt work even on cooler mornings like yesterday. The only thing you need to be concerned with is rain.

You can track the passage of summer by the produce available at the farmer’s market. In May, when things get started, you’ve just got a lot of green leafy things (lettuce and spinach and the like) since that’s all that will really grow in the colder months. Now, the tables overflow with things like summer squash and green beans and assorted fruits.

The sweet corn also arrived. That is a highlight of the market. There is a farm that seems to specialize in it and when their truck first shows up, it gets mobbed and you see people lugging their dozen ears. You have to get their early because the line forms quickly and can stretch for awhile. One thing about buying local is that they always toss in an extra ear so a half dozen is really seven and a dozen is really thirteen. You would think the line would settle down as we move into August but it doesn’t. Sweet corn is just part of summer here.

We have an explosion of woodpeckers around the house. We have representation from almost every species that live in this area coming to the feeders. Typically, we just see pairs but there must be offspring because the numbers have grown. So the feeders are fully active. It makes for a nice distraction. I like to sit outside and read and watch the commotion.

I realize I haven’t said a lot about dancing and there just isn’t much to report. I’ve picked up some new steps for the West Coast and Argentine Tango and the Swing has been redone but most lessons are really just working on what we’ve got and that isn’t very exciting to talk about. (Then again, the Farmer’s market might not be all that interesting either but it is a part of what makes summer so great)