| Summer Nostalgia |
[Aug. 10th, 2016|10:51 pm]
rejectomorph
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Had I a more private yard, and a lawn that was still green and not all brown and prickly, I would this afternoon have gone outside wearing bathing trunks (had I still had a pair) and hosed myself down, as I used to do when I was a kid. That was one of my favorite summertime activities then, and today I found myself missing it. My old house had an excellent place for it; a big lawn alongside the house, with high stone walls on three sides, and shaded from the afternoon sun by an enormous old eucalyptus and a smaller and younger elm, and many a hot day I would spend so much time under the cool stream that issued from the garden hose that my fingers and toes would prune.
But even if the yard I have now had such an excellent, private, grassy location for such an activity, there would still be the price of water to consider, not to mention the local restrictions on its use, which forbid afternoon watering. I guess that my childhood memory will remain always only that, and I'll never get a chance to relive it. I can relive the cold drinks and the chilled melon slices and the frozen candy bars (I was partial to the truffle-like U-No bar) but the opportunity for cooling, outdoor showers will most likely remain unavailable. Sad.
The crickets, however, still sing to me by night, and the waxing moon still shines, and vagrant breezes rustle the leaves as I sit on my back porch. I didn't get much nocturnal outdoor time when I was a kid, as my bedtime was not long after sunset. Now and then I'd be allowed to stay up to watch the stars come out, and see Orion and the Big and Little Dippers, but I really had to wait until I was older to fully enjoy the pleasures of the night. A trade off, I guess. It's just that today it didn't seem worth it. Maybe it will again tomorrow. |
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