SHADY IN THE GARAGE

I am not one to complain about the weather. It is what it is and that’s just what it is. But it’s hot and things slow down when it’s hot. I just got back from Michigan and it’s hot there too but 90 is hot there. When I was a kid; when my kids were kids - we didn’t have air conditioning. I know, I know; we walked everywhere and it was uphill in every direction but when you got where you were going there was no air conditioning there either. We went to the beach or played in the water. My kids rode their bicycles through the over-spray from irrigation systems that spilled out of corn fields onto the road. Neither am I one to glorify the good old days. We were young, that’s all; and you don’t get to go back. Making believe it was better then is an age related indulgence we take for granted. 

For those of us old enough to remember the 20th Century, the new century milks the last drop of everything for its commercial value. Everything is news worthy. News channels run 24-7 and the weather is prime time. Nobody bothers with temperature, it’s the heat index. We need someone to tell us how comfortable we will be and bigger numbers make you feel special. Nobody cares about the index when it’s 75 outside. They have time slots to fill and when there is no weather to speak of, the crisp, young forecaster describes blue sky, but they had a cloud over Iowa this morning and the wind is out of the east in Southern Illinois. Being young has its advantages, you don’t notice grown up crap or business-doing-business. I haven’t made Kool-Ade popsicles in a long time.

I’ll buy some lumber today for a storage project in the garage. I threw a bunch of stuff away but I won’t let that space go vacant, you know how nature hates a vacuum. Picture framing-mat cutting equipment stored in my office and guest room will get a new home. Then I can throw other stuff away and buy more lumber. It should cool off in September but with the heat index and the east wind, you never know. It’s shady in the garage and I can plug in a fan.