Gimme Swelter
Yes, it's that time again. August. It isn't often that "this August" is worse than some "August of your youth" or "back home." But this August, this week? I think it's the worst. Even if you have the good fortune of having a nearby pool at which you can end the day, it can happen as it did yesterday. We were overheated and out of sorts and hoping to spend some quality time cooling it there. But, as the Rolling Stones put it nearly fifty years ago--"it's just a shot away, just a shot away--it's just a shot away." What sounds more like a shot than distant thunder?
Sure enough, it happened. We heard it rumble, and flash, then "Oh, a storm is threatening, my very life today." We had to leave the pool as the thunderstorm approached and stumble back home--"War, it's just a shot away." This week has been miserable enough that more than once I said it out loud--how can anyone stand to work outside today?
Monday, it rained all day, a deluge. We spent time walking around a certain Plaza , dodging the spots where the overhanging roof leaked a pouring faucet down on us. We dared to hope for a hot, sunny day. Then we had to cross an alley between buildings, where it turned out the water was four inches deep. Aa Mick and the rest of the Stones put it back in 1969, "Oh, the flood is threat'nng my very life today." But the sweltering weather returned yesterday, unrelieved by the pool stay we had been hoping for.
Today, it was awful again--in terms of heat, anyway. You still have to qualify that some. Any day you can be free, be loved, have hope, give love, smile, frown--whatever--is a gift isn't it? Just a few moments ago, when I opened the sliding glass door and the hot air plowed in, nearly knocking me over, I remembered it's still good to be alive, so I have to say it--"Gimme, gimme swelter, or I'm gonna fade away."
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