Summertime

When does summer officially arrive? We certainly have the temperatures of summer. It’s 77° outside at this hour, and inside it is 79° and slowly falling. But it can’t get much lower than that until I shut down the fans, close the windows and crank up the AC. This would make someone rich, and me, poorer... but cooler!

I did wander outside this morning; looking for some cool air. The north wind is blowing, of course. But the stars were bright and the heavens were filled with them. A distinct advantage to country living is the opportunity to see millions of stars.

The Glenn County Seniors are in the middle of a fund drive and so we have been drafted into a small army of envelope stuffers; we’re sending appeal letters to every postal address in the county…12,000+ of them. The results have been good in the past as this organization has managed to avoid taking any government funding at all. It’s the only senior center in the state that is self supporting, and it helps to provide a meal service for any seniors that need it.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon dealing with a mountain of envelopes and letters. We stuffed for about 3 hours, until the rising temperatures were more than the fans could temper. So we will be back at it again today. Only 9,000 to go!

And after the stuffing task, it was time for me to mow the orchard. At least I had some air blowing over me as long as the mower was running up and down the rows. Plus, I had a chance to sample some apricots, fresh off of the tree. I love being able to steer the mower into the shade under the tree and then finding a ripe apricot to sample. I don’t even have to get off the mower! The apricots are warm and juicy; very sweet! One tree is ripening quickly and I will have to pick some more fruit today. The second tree is about a week or so away from ripening. And next year I will have three more…but small, apricot trees to pick from. Finally, with apricot juice in my beard, I’m ready to jump in the pool. That’s my reward for a little bit of work in the heat. Pool temperature? 84°

And here's a link to an interesting blog, a photoblog. (Kitty sent me this yesterday) Now this looks like a blogging experience that I would enjoy...driving and taking photos as you are moved to. A short story, a sentence or two to explain it and then move on. Daughter Alicia has a good camera and the skills, maybe should try it? I remember posting a link to another photoblog, awhile ago...it was filled with Northern California photos and they were quite good.