The Good Old Summertime

I can't quite decide if certain things remind me of summer, or if summer makes me think of certain things. Or if maybe I'm just not making any sense because it is 100 degrees outside with 93% humidity.

Therefore, today's post is going to be a list.

A list that might not even make any sense, but all the following items have something to do with summer...in my world anyway.

(And I realize I should have posted this last Monday when we were celebrating the official first day of summer, but what can I say? I was probably too hot to even think straight last week.)

1. Afternoon thunderstorms. Unfortunately until yesterday we have had approximately zero thunderstorms and no rain since sometime in May. However, I distinctly remember in Houston when I was growing up there would be an afternoon thunderstorm that popped up out of nowhere and then vanished just as quickly every single day in the summer. Of course, after the thunderstorm disappeared, it would leave behind muggy, humid air that made it hard to breathe. Nevertheless, summer should mean afternoon thunderstorms.

2. Watermelon. It looks, smells, and tastes like summer. I bought a really great watermelon last week in preparation for my parents and grandmother being in town, and then a weekend with everybody at my sister's house. Farmer's markets are the place to get perfect watermelon, and the 50-pounder I picked up was gone within four days. (I might be exaggerating that it was 50 pounds, but it was at least 40!)

3. Swimming. I have to admit that I very rarely go swimming anymore. Without kids, no one is ever dragging me to a pool, and I was spoiled as a child having a swimming pool in my backyard. Now, pools crawling with people do not seem like much fun. But last weekend we went swimming with my nephew at the hotel pool where my parents were staying. We were the only ones there, and it was definitely so hot that NOT being in the water was NOT a choice...unless you have an affinity for developing heat-stroke. Swimming is summertime. (I am a bit cold-natured, so it really has to be very hot outside for me to venture into the water.)

4. Car trips. Growing up we took one vacation a year: a two-week trip to visit our relatives in Oklahoma and Arkansas. And we drove. Getting up at dark-thirty, piling in a hot, humid car surrounded by the smell of the coffee my dad carried in a thermos still makes me a feel a little sick to my stomach. I'm not sure if my nausea was related to a touch of car-sickness or the excitement of going on vacation...or the combination of being tired, feeling hot, and smelling coffee. Anyway, summer means long road trips in the car.

5. Country music. I rarely listen to country music...except in the summer. I'm not sure why this genre is only for the summertime in my world. Something about all the lyrics involving picnics, sitting on the beach, fishing, eating fried chicken, screen doors, and farming relegate the music to summer months.

6. Cicadas. At least I think the insect noises up in the trees are cicadas. When I start hearing the cicadas, I know it's blazing hot outside, and I picture big green trees, fields of corn, creeks, and cloudless blue skies. I guess a lot of those pictures stem from all the driving through rural areas of the country while on summer vacation road trips. And growing up in a small town in Texas.

7. Barbeque. Wouldn't it be more comfortable to use the grill outside in the cool spring or crisp fall weather? But no. We all grill out more in the summer...with the humidity, the heat, and the mosquitoes. The smell of someone grilling burgers or ribs is quintessential summer to me.

What makes you think of summer? Or, what does summer remind you of? It's a great little exercise to take your mind off the unbearably oppressive heat and find things that make you grateful for summer!

2010. Not my favorite year so far.

It has been ages since my last post. Basically I can sum up everything that's happened in the last two weeks by letting you all know that I've just been trying to breathe.

Literally.

I can tell things are getting better, but I still struggle with coughing, a tight chest, and feeling like I can't breathe well when I lay down. This is turning into the year that I hate.

I think my garden is sensing my infirmness because it, too, is languishing.

Or, that could be because it's approximately 127 degrees outside with no rain in sight.

Seriously, some weird gray, sticky, mold or fungus-type disease has attacked all my pole bean plants, almost from their inception as seedlings. Maybe they are offended by my poor excuse for a pole bean trellis (again, not pictured because I am so embarrassed.) My zucchini plants are rotting from the stems (one of them never even produced a single zucchini). I think the few zucchinis I did harvest all had blossom-end rot. I don't have the energy to do much damage control this year...or even figure out what all the diseases and pests are that plague our backyard.

However, even though the tomato plants are losing all their leaves, I am harvesting a great number of tomatoes, both regular-sized and the cherry variety. I am also getting a few okras (okra? okras? what's the plural of okra?)...just a few at a time.

If you have a recipe that calls for about 5 okra(s?), let me know!

So, all-in-all, I give my garden a solid "C" this summer. It's passing!

(Let me know if you need a tomato...I'm sure I have an extra one or five hanging about.)

I'll leave you with a couple representative pictures of our produce.


Mmmmm. Nothing like homegrown tomatoes!


See what I mean? Just one okra this morning. But don't they look good?

Beautiful Paintings

I learned of our miscarriage just about three weeks ago. It seems like ages.

A week and a half ago I had my second D&C, which seems to have taken care of everything.

Everything except the grief.

And on top of the grief and wanting desperately for life to seem normal again, last week I came down with severe allergy problems that I thought had turned into a cold and ended up being a sinus infection. Today I went back to the doctor to be diagnosed with bronchitis. Right now it seems the misery is never ending.

I feel like I should be 90 years old with all this talk of bodily ailments!

And even though it's the worst allergy season in 87 years (or something like that), all this physical illness is somehow related to my loss and grief. I just know it. Chinese medicine confirms my suspicions.

Have you ever noticed physical illnesses crop up or are exacerbated by loss and grief? (OK. I hadn't really ever paid much attention either...until now.) And I know everything going on in my body is because of numerous factors, not the least of which is the horrible allergy season and my immune system being compromised after surgeries.

But today I also found out that in Chinese medicine the chest and lungs are associated with the "family chi". A close family loss or illness can compromise these areas of the body. Maybe they figure the physical pain and hurt deep in the chest when we lose a loved one is more than just emotional.

And in my case, I can see how my body is demonstrating emotional pain in physical ways. I think I prefer just the tears to all the wheezing and coughing and feeling like I can't breathe.

A woman I don't even know, have never met, emailed us today. I know just by her few words and the fact that she is a fellow Compassion child sponsor that she is a caring, loving lady whom God is using in mighty ways. She also understands the journey we're walking right now. One sentence she wrote is sticking in my head today:

"Sometimes the Lord uses the darkest canvases to paint the most beautiful pictures."

I can't see it yet, but I hope I get to one day. Thank you for reminding me, Kathy.