Summertime

The first day of summer is only a couple of weeks away, but the season has officially begun. I went out onto the porch last night and was treated to an amazing display of lightening bug aerobatics. I have not been able to talk my wife into letting the kids practice what we used to do when we would chase the lightening bugs… That’s wear a white T-shirt so when you got enough in the jar, you would smash them on your shirt then run around with little glow swipes all over you. Disgusting yes, but fun all the same. Along with the fireworks display of lightening bugs, the other summer demons have arrived as well, humidity and insects. The last night patrol on the Kawasaki mule called for the addition of a long stick to knock the numerous spider webs down that now criss cross the paths we ride. Those buggers are fast too, we knock one down & by the time we get back, there’s another in its place. At 10:30 last night the temperature was 71 degrees with a relative humidity of 100%. It’s the beginning of the “oh my God its hot” time of the year. You really feel like you could just push off the porch and bounce slowly over to the car…
The hawk caught our last “outside” bird the other day and the birdcage has now become the home of the newest addition to the family, Max the baby rabbit. My sister in law has a couple of rabbits, and well.. You know the rest of the story… I hope the hawk doesn’t zero in on this one, but I think the birds’ downfall came from the fact that they would hang on the front of the cage and provide an easy target. James, our four-year-old has fallen in love with the rabbit, he held it for a long time last night and kept asking if he could call people to tell them that he has a rabbit. After he went to bed he came out to go to the bathroom and called back to Max “I’ll be right back buddy” I thought that was cute.
My wife was telling me about a family of deer that she had encountered on her way up the driveway to work. The other morning as I was making my way to the car I heard the usual grunt & groan of a deer that has been bedding down as it hops up. I looked over and there were two of them standing still watching me from the edge of the yard. I called to them, a bird whistle, I don’t know how to speak deer, and they just stood there and watched me, so I waved at them. They didn’t move, I walked to the car & they stood completely still as I drove away. I don’t think that they will get too used to people so that they don’t have a fighting chance come deer season….
The only thing I have left to do is get that damnable satanic lawnmower running so I can cut the grass on a regular basis, I should’ve never bought the piece of junk. With James and Patrick ready to rumble and warm weather looming for the next few months, not to mention a list of grand plans, I hope this summer turns out to be really good, the year so far has been a complete bummer.
When I got home from work yesterday I stood completely still in the driveway and just listened. We live far enough from the road that you hear no traffic noise, the wind was blowing through the trees and the honeysuckle was fragrant, what a way to end a work day....
We have replaced the rusted out grill with another $19 walmart special, I refuse to cook with a gas grill; the flavor just simply is not there with gas & its easier to just use Kingsford than to have to place chips around for flavor. We have already broken the grill in with hotdogs, brats, and burgers. The steaks are in the fridge for the next outing. Keep in mind that you are all invited over for dinner whenever you want, just don’t mind the mess or the dogs…
We could cook on the grill, eat a big meal, stargaze, watch the fireworks show provided by the lightening bugs, and then when its late enough, we could pile into the mule and go for a slow night patrol through the woods, After we get back we could sit on the porch and call up owls to see how many we could get going, it’s a pretty nice way to spend an evening….