Day 31: Nothing much

What reminds me that it is summer

is more than the total buckets of water I have poured in and on myself in a fruitless and vain attempt to stay cool and hydrated.

is the smell of water running from a hose a man is using to water the plants outside the bicycle shop, a metal smell that seems cleaner than it should and reminds me how I used to drink from hoses during car washes and garden duties and never thought about the fluoride or pesticide or any other Ides.

is the restless nights, the hunt for a cool spot on sheets intent on sucking up every bit of body heat and wrapping me in it tight as skin, and I complaining that my parents have sent me to bed too early with the light in the sky and the sun-hot air indicators of injustice even though it is 9:30 p.m. and I’m about ready to drop dead with the need for sleep.

is the smell of dirt and tomato plants, a constant feeling of being grimy and it not mattering.

is the desire to go utterly pagan and run around naked and happy.

is eating ice cubes instead of real meals, thus the weightlessness insubstantial nourishment brings.

is the water everywhere, beading on plastic glasses full of iced coffee, beading on foreheads of retired intellectuals in coffee shops who are drinking the iced coffee and reading the newspaper or staring at the streets where the heat is rising in waves making the roads look like rivers.

is the porch I now I have that I never had before, having never lived in a porch-type house, where I can sit with a beer or a glass of wine and think dark academic thoughts about lord knows what, perhaps Emily Dickinson. Maybe I’ll even dolefully strum guitar.

is the desire to get up early and go to bed late and wander not for the sake of wandering, but because it’s nice to squint into the sun and wear tank tops and eat fruit and pretend to be artistic.

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Recent storees:



After about a week and a half in the holding tank my forest story finally saw the light of newspaper dawn. Again, if the link doesn't work, try a Google search. Keywords to type in together are: Tillamook forest, Hinkle, Astorian. That should do it.

Also. THE WEATHER. Most esoteric story a reporter will be asked to write and I didn't do a very good job. Better next time...as usual.