Ah, The Humidity...

This year’s Summer Solstice is near, Summer making its presence known even as I type this. We have been having some heavy thunderstorms as of late, but no real cooling has been involved. Step outside, and you’ll be plunged into the sticky and humid heat of the south. No use in trying to shake it when going back indoors…it stays with you. And mosquitoes and sand gnats are both added bonuses (and, yes…I am being sarcastic). Living on the marsh has its annoyances, but it’s worth it to just tough them out. Especially during the evenings in that window of time when day is giving way to night. The period of dusk when neighbors withdraw into their homes for dinner, the news, or conversation about the day’s events. Day is hanging on by a thread, and the peaceful sound of crickets, cicadas, and pond frogs provide a calming soundtrack to a stroll. My favorite time of day.

After I clocked out of work today, I made the usual drive home. As I crossed a bridge spanning the Savannah River, I glanced at the numbers on my dashboard that show whatever the outside temperature happens to be. 100 degrees. Yipes! The hot and sticky coastal south….and it’s far from over folks. Although summer is here in many ways, it officially begins at the Solstice on the 21^st. Then it will be several unbearably hot months until my favorite season of the year. The cooler (and moodier…no wonder I relate to it so much) autumn. Here’s hoping summer doesn’t over stay its welcome…

Over the last couple of weeks we had rain in the forecast on a daily basis. Scattered thunderstorms mostly. The radar revealed patchy clumps of green moving up from Florida, bits of stormy flotsam from the tropical storm hitting down there. I stayed hopeful, rainstorms being my Jell-O…there’s always room. Plus, we can use it here. It was Monday that we had the last batch of threats for rain. The sun was supposed to peek out for a bit during mid-day, but things were supposed to get rather grey and foreboding into the afternoon. The sun seemed intent on staying its course, beating down from on high. My sense of hope waned a bit when rather suddenly the sun was blotted out by the moody grey of storm clouds. I made it outside for two strolls that day. One under the blazing sun, the other under a muted grumbling sky. Got some nice photos of both. Since then it has been nothing but brain baking sun, and I am more than over it now. Our local weather gal says there is a chance for scattered storms tomorrow…I’ll believe it when I see it…

In an effort to do some sort of homey beautification on the front porch here, I added a new door mat, and a plant. Yes, ‘a’ plant. I have tried a bit of flower pot gardening during the five or so years I have been back in Georgia, and ended up with a bunch of dead plants. It hurt my pride as I have always had a bit of a green thumb. I will concede that my green appendage days were when I lived in the dry heat of southern California. The thick and humid conditions here, coupled with the shaded porch conditions, have squashed any real plant therapy for me. Tending plants is extremely therapeutic. I miss it…

(Top: the sunflower door mat I got from work; Bottom: the caladium I planted)

Anyway, I did some Googling about good plants for areas that receive very little sunlight. Most of the plants on the lists I found are rather…well, for lack of a better word, ‘tacky’. They were just too common. Plants one usually sees in commercial areas. Around parking areas in front of office buildings. The last plant I found was a keeper. A caladium. With strangely textured leaves shaped much like a garden trowel, it looks rather fake. It reminds me of fauna one might have found in prehistoric times. It doesn’t flower, but it is strangely beautiful. It seems to like its new home, so I seem to have chosen wisely.

Off the screened in porch in back which overlooks the tidal creek, there are a couple of hydrangea bushes that the previous owners planted. This past season they were pruned back by the grounds crew (they needed it desperately), and though they haven’t grown out much, they have bloomed quite a lot. Big balls of blue and pink. Really pretty. The confederate jasmine that domes the screened door bloomed a month or so ago, but the small white star shaped flowers are now brown. When it was in full bloom it had a really lovely strong aroma. I would prop the door from the kitchen onto the porch open, and the wisteria-like scent would waft in. It was nice.

(Not my Orb Weaver, but one very similar...I dig the abstract art of the shell)

I did encounter another sign of summer’s return day before yesterday as I left for work. As I always do, I closed the front door and started down the sidewalk off the porch that leads to the parking area. As I passed the Magnolia tree to the right of me, I felt something stringy across my face. I had walked into a spider’s web. Specifically the web of an Orb Weaver. I love those little brightly colored and spiny creatures. They tend to weave wide webs across open spaces so as to catch flying insects. I managed to back out of it before I completely destroyed all of its hard work. I could see the connecting strands in the sun’s rays, so I found a way to maneuver around it. It was gone when I got home, but a new one was back the next day. Fascinating that something so small can create something so large and expansive in such a short time.

What to say about work? Work is just that. Retail work doubly so. I could launch into a massive colorfully worded rant about the retail game, but why sully my pleasant update? I’ll finish off this work mention with “it’s my job, not my life”.  Moving right along…

There’s an old saying: “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” I say, “When life hands you lemons, toss them back and demand grapes!” I want to make wine! Next week I have three days off in a row. I feel two ways about that. I wish I had a few more hours at work (the tax man wants his due), but I am looking forward to the free creative time. I have a few projects that have been waiting in the wings far too long. There are others kicking around the corridors of my brain, but I am determined to complete what I already have lined up before introducing anything else to the list. (Knocking wood)

I best sign off for this installment. I have another list of blog posts to add, this being the first of a few that will most likely be done over the coming weekend. More musings, a review or two, etc…

Cheers