JUNE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER.... & MEMORIES OF HOT SUMMERS WITHOUT A.C.
By Olivene Godfrey
"June is Busting Out All Over", goes an old song, and that's how it is here now in Northwest Georgia. The greenery ad the flowers and my patio plants are fresh and pretty. And, I think that son Barry's beloved "Pa", my late husband, Ralph, would approve of the way Barry is caring for his patio tomato plants.
I am enjoying this new growth phase while it lasts as in late summer, the scene will change, with plants and greenery not as fresh and pretty. But, we won’ think of that now....
Good Old Summertime, with all the fun things it means, can be oppressively hot and humid here in the Southland. Summer weather is already here with temps in the 90s almost every day and hot and muggy. I am so grateful for air-conditioning, especially as much of my life was spent without it in the summertime. I have several vivid memories of episodes in my life regarding hot and steamy weather.
One year when we were young, Ralph and I drove to Daytona Beach, FL in an old Chevy that had seen better days. We were living in Northwest Georgia and Georgia and Florida are large states. At that time, there were no expressways and we traveled on a narrow two lane highway to our destination. The day we drove to Florida, the temp was over 100 degrees in South Georgia. We had the car windows open as we had no AC and intense heat was blasting us as it rose up from the floorboard of the car.
We could wring sweat out of our shirts and shorts and we had not brought any drinking water with us. In those days, there were few restaurants on this route and we were really suffering from the heat and thirst when we spied a small concrete block building with a sign that read CAFE. We stopped the car and as we entered the air-conditioned building, it was like finding an oasis in the desert. We asked for water before ordering sandwiches and a kind waitress brought us large glasses of iced water and cautioned us to drink the water slowly. That was hard to do as we were so thirsty. Never has water tasted so good!
Finally, refreshed, we went back to the car and continued our journey.
Another memory is the summer we went to Daytona Beach for a few days, for me, and to a fishing camp on a Florida river in central Florida, for Ralph, an avid fisherman. After spending a few days on the beach we drove to the fishing camp. We checked in at the main building and we were taken to a neat, clean cabin with a small kitchen and front porch.
We drove a short distance to a small general grocery store and bought supplies, including a whole chicken as the store didn't have any "cut-up" small chickens. When we returned to the cabin, we got settled in and we were hungry so Ralph went to check out the fishing dock while I cooked a meal. I had never cut up a chicken before and in that hot, little kitchen I wrestled with that bird while sweat poured off of me. Finally, I started frying the unrecognizable parts of the chicken which was delicious.
We lived in Florida for four years long ago and there were nights when we were unable to sleep as the heat didn't let up at night any, leaving us drained of energy in the mornings. We lived in several places down there and none were air-conditioned as few residences were at that time.
These days, when the weather is hot and muggy outside, like it is today, I stay in my air-conditioned house as much as possible. When I do leave the house, I have the A.C. going full blast in my car. And, I am still grateful every day for the wonderful invention of air-conditioning.
See you next time.
By Olivene Godfrey
"June is Busting Out All Over", goes an old song, and that's how it is here now in Northwest Georgia. The greenery ad the flowers and my patio plants are fresh and pretty. And, I think that son Barry's beloved "Pa", my late husband, Ralph, would approve of the way Barry is caring for his patio tomato plants.
I am enjoying this new growth phase while it lasts as in late summer, the scene will change, with plants and greenery not as fresh and pretty. But, we won’ think of that now....
Good Old Summertime, with all the fun things it means, can be oppressively hot and humid here in the Southland. Summer weather is already here with temps in the 90s almost every day and hot and muggy. I am so grateful for air-conditioning, especially as much of my life was spent without it in the summertime. I have several vivid memories of episodes in my life regarding hot and steamy weather.
One year when we were young, Ralph and I drove to Daytona Beach, FL in an old Chevy that had seen better days. We were living in Northwest Georgia and Georgia and Florida are large states. At that time, there were no expressways and we traveled on a narrow two lane highway to our destination. The day we drove to Florida, the temp was over 100 degrees in South Georgia. We had the car windows open as we had no AC and intense heat was blasting us as it rose up from the floorboard of the car.
We could wring sweat out of our shirts and shorts and we had not brought any drinking water with us. In those days, there were few restaurants on this route and we were really suffering from the heat and thirst when we spied a small concrete block building with a sign that read CAFE. We stopped the car and as we entered the air-conditioned building, it was like finding an oasis in the desert. We asked for water before ordering sandwiches and a kind waitress brought us large glasses of iced water and cautioned us to drink the water slowly. That was hard to do as we were so thirsty. Never has water tasted so good!
Finally, refreshed, we went back to the car and continued our journey.
Another memory is the summer we went to Daytona Beach for a few days, for me, and to a fishing camp on a Florida river in central Florida, for Ralph, an avid fisherman. After spending a few days on the beach we drove to the fishing camp. We checked in at the main building and we were taken to a neat, clean cabin with a small kitchen and front porch.
We drove a short distance to a small general grocery store and bought supplies, including a whole chicken as the store didn't have any "cut-up" small chickens. When we returned to the cabin, we got settled in and we were hungry so Ralph went to check out the fishing dock while I cooked a meal. I had never cut up a chicken before and in that hot, little kitchen I wrestled with that bird while sweat poured off of me. Finally, I started frying the unrecognizable parts of the chicken which was delicious.
We lived in Florida for four years long ago and there were nights when we were unable to sleep as the heat didn't let up at night any, leaving us drained of energy in the mornings. We lived in several places down there and none were air-conditioned as few residences were at that time.
These days, when the weather is hot and muggy outside, like it is today, I stay in my air-conditioned house as much as possible. When I do leave the house, I have the A.C. going full blast in my car. And, I am still grateful every day for the wonderful invention of air-conditioning.
See you next time.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home