Auld Lang Syne

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The heat and my head and writing

One of the reasons I love Maine is the lack of oppressive heat in summer. I remember a few days when I was growing up here that the temps got "up there" and the mug was so thick that we could barely breathe. Those nights we slept downstairs on the dining room floor, and those were the nights our dad would pile us into the car in our jammies to take us out for ice cream. But basically these were rare times. Maine (coastal Maine I ought to say) is pretty cool in the evenings even when the days are "scortchy." The tide will turn, a breeze will blow in off the sea, and everything chills a little, just enough to sleep at least.

Well, last night was a no-sleep kind of night. The temps had been close to 100 all day, no relief. The wind blew in from the west. The air got very very still after dark. I slept downstairs in my chaise chair, my hubby braved the upstairs under a ceiling fan. Hot. Just plain hot. We'd gone to a movie in the late afternoon and then to a restaurant for supper, all AC'd and cool enough. Back at home, we watched the ballgame (Sox won) and then tried to sleep. I was so distracted yesterday by the heat that I could not DO anything I wanted/needed to do. No writing (except the blog) and no meaningful domestics. UGH.

This morning is overcast and the weather widget says there is rain all around us. We need it. We WANT it, a nice gully-washer please. I need my head washed too, some kind of flood to clear it and make me feel creative again. I am certainly happy my workshop got canceled or I'd be getting ready to teach and feeling inadequate to do so.

I'm also getting physically and mentally ready to cook my Lobster Curry Mac 'n' Cheese with crispy crab topping at the upcoming lobster festival here in town. My recipe is one of five chosen and I am the only "cook" from Rockland, so a little bit of pressure there. I get to make the recipe "live" at the festival. So, now to assemble all I need and do a practice run. THAT will happen next Wednesday. I have 4 happy volunteer tasters coming to my house for that.

But today I write. It cooled down a bit overnight and my head doesn't feel so furry. I have poetry group on Tuesday and need to figure out what to take along for critique.

I heard in the news about a shooting in Norway at a youth camp, and the nearly simultaneous bombing of a big building in Oslo. Nearly 100 people dead. Why Norway? I think of Norway as a peaceful place, with laid back people. And Norway is not exactly on the world radar for terrorism. What gives there? I guess there are crazy people everywhere, nut jobs who think nothing of human life. Makes me sad.

So, this blog is a bit of a mish-mash. Figures, given the state of my head since yesterday. Heat. Killer of writing and clarity. Be gone!  Makes one long for a good snowstorm.

2 comments:

  1. Fuzzy head here, too....with little writing. As you say the rain is wonderful (here near Portland it's been off and on since 6:30 a.m.) and I'm hoping it's not quite so hot today. So funny because I blogged yesterday about longing for winter, too!

    ReplyDelete