In other parts of the country, summer is in full swing already. Graduations, proms, sunburns, air conditioning, the roar of the lawn mowers, the pushing, pulsing Friday afternoon traffic eager to leave the sticky dirty hot city for the beach or the mountains or a cool lake. Shoes are shed, beers are popped, barbeques lit, the memories of when summer was long and delicious evoked once more, even if it’s now for the adults just for a few long weekends in flip flops and cargo shorts instead of a three-month sloth fest.
Here, it’s raining, grey, and still in the 60s. School is still in session for a couple more weeks. The sun is still a surprise visitor for another month. Someone once told me it took her five years of living here before she wasn’t completely freaked out and depressed by the long months of rain and clouds. That sounds about right, as Year Six for me marks in August. I stopped expecting anything else, and like everyone else just forged ahead and got on with life, making an extra point to go out and DO rather than hide inside.
(I’m going to interject here that as I am typing this right now in my car, the Beatles’ “Rain” just came on good old SIRIUS radio. I swear to you, this car is hooked into my brain. Perhaps that was a factory option.)
When summer arrives, it is glorious and warm and I sit outside until my sunscreen tells me it’s beginning to fail me to pink. I give the bees the stinkeye and stay hydrated. I listen to the boats on the lake and the birds. I read dumb magazines and sing along to the radio. Ellie the dog sleeps in the shade of the Japanese red maple in the cool dirt, Grace the cat’s remains about two feet straight below, unbeknownst to her. Or perhaps Ellie does know with her dog super-sense, and is keeping a steady watch in case Grace decides to dare reappear. Trust me, Ellie would be no match for Grace. RIP, you feisty old cat.
The school year for Mr12 and MissSeven ends well. Today, Mr12 was accepted into a new school for his 7th grade year that he is very excited about, and the school seems excited about him, too. The worry about where middle school would be and what it would be is done, and he is happy. MissSeven had her best school year ever, with a 2nd grade teacher that struck the perfect balance between nurture and HEY KNOCK IT OFF! She leaves a stronger and more-confident student, and looking forward to what comes next in 3rd grade, rather than fretting that it will all be too much. I could probably never thank their teachers enough. For other adults to take so much interest in your children, to do everything they can do to help them grow, to just beam when your child is successful…well, parents, you know what I mean. Good teachers are a gift to the whole family.
I’ve been crabby/sad about some things lately – SB-1070 and the seemingly-endless parade of unbelievable shitty news coming out of Arizona, like today’s report that an elementary school mural with the faces of children of many races will now be repainted with LIGHTER faces, the incomprehensible loss we face from the BP oil spill, the STUPIDITY of S*ny M*sic Entertainm*nt Gro*p and the creepy YouTube copyright bot (don’t get me started here, grr), the repeated suicidal insanity of the bicyclists I must work very hard to not to hit on the roads around here every day, and the usual stuff that everyone deals with. I dealt with my unpleasant emotions by going to TJ Maxx and buying a pair of really awesome cargo shorts.
Summer’s coming.
If the rain comes they run and hide their heads.
They might as well be dead.
If the rain comes, if the rain comes.
When the sun shines they slip into the shade
(When the sun shines down.)
And drink their lemonade.
(When the sun shines down.)
When the sun shines, when the sun shines.
Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine.
I can show you that when it starts to rain,
(When the sun shines down.)
Everything's the same.
(When the sun shines down.)
I can show you, I can show you.
Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the weather's fine.
Can you hear me, that when it rains and shines,
(When the sun shines down.)
It's just a state of mind?
(When the sun shines down.)
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
If the rain comes they run and hide their heads.
sdaeh rieht edih dna nur yeht semoc niar eht fI.
(Rain)
naiR.
(Rain)
enihsnuS.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman