Summertime

Summertime has been really busy and really hot. We have had alot of projects going on with work and with family.

The sports world has been fun with the US playing world cup soccer and with Wimbledon tennis matches. John Isner, a Greensboro, NC native and Nicolas Mahut of France played in the most amazing marathon tennis match ever. The match was spread over three days and lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. It was a display of huge serves and amazing effort to stay in the match from both players. Isner ended up winning, but both players were winners in my book. They were cordial and classy all the way through and it was a pleasure to watch.

Local tennis was fun too with USTA league play, Club Team and Boiling Springs Team Tennis winding up with a fun benefit tournament for Madison's Cancer Foundation.

For me it is way to hot to play tennis just now. I keep hearing songs from 1965. The old Lovin Spoonful song - "Summer in the City". "Hot Town Summer in the City. Back of my neck getting dirt and gritty! ...Everybody walking around half dead..Hotter than a matchhead". Another song that keeps playing in my head is Billy Stewart's version of "Summertime". This is a jazzy, bouncey, staccato version of the Gershwin tune from "Porgy and Bess". Billy Stewart was one of my favorite soul singers and he always comes to mind in the Summer because I remember hearing so many of his hits when I was coming off a tennis court or near a swimming pool in the 1960s. "Sitting in the Park waiting for YOOOOUUUUU" was another favorite. And of course "I Do Love You" was a classic beach song. If you don't know or remember the Loving Spoonful or Billy Stewart you can look them up on YouTube. If you're like me, you'll get the urge to dance.

Another summertime pleasure from the 60s was chasing lightning bugs. In Lattimore, we would run around outside with mason jars and catch as many lightning bugs as we could. We would punch holes in the lids so they could breathe. I'm not so sure why we did this because we also used to pinch off their lights to make 'jewelry'. One light could make a ring and several lights would make a necklace. There seemed to be a ton of lightning bugs back then. I haven't noticed them as much during the last few summers, but this year they are very plentiful in my neighborhood. Fortunately for them, I haven't felt any urge to chase and pinch. I am happy to just rock on the front porch and watch them blink.