Dog Days of Summer

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Days:

The phrase Dog Days or the dog days of summer conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. They are a phenomenon of the northern hemisphere where they usually fall between July and early September but the actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant.

Wow! Is it ever hot and humid lately here in the piney woods of south Arkansas! The high temperatures for the next few days are predicted to hover about 100 degrees. Quite a change from the unusually cool and rainy July we had. It's just a little after 7 a.m. and is 74 degrees outside. I doubt if it cooled down much, if any, below that last night. Thank goodness for air conditioning, but I worry about all those people who don't have any place or way to cool off. The elderly and very poor are in real danger of heat stroke and dehydration.

Jim and I hope to furnish the parsonage patio with comfortable chairs and attractive plants and tables for "just sitting around" when the weather becomes a bit more conducive to enjoying the privacy of the back yard. We bought one small round table last week, and I want to go back this next week and purchase two or maybe four of the chairs that match it. We have a hodge-podge of outdoor chairs, none of them attractive or very comfortable. As much as I'd like to place pretty blooming summer plants (in moveable planters for convenience) about, I'm waiting. Maybe at the beginning of cooler weather, I'll put some pots with mums and other fall flowers out there, and wait until next spring to plan some colorful pots of summer flowers. Of course all this depends on the whim of my black thumb. Perhaps I can fool mother nature and actually NOT kill the plants this time. ....laughs

Tonight is the night UMW (United Methodist Women)'s meeting, and this month it's "Girl's Night Out." We're not having a regular meeting. Instead we're going to the Country Village, that fantastic place with the great food. The Fish House will be getting our bucks and hopefully be sating our appetites for fish and seafood. Some of the husbands are going to North Little Rock to take in a Travelers (minor league baseball) game at the new river front field. Dicky Stephens Field (think I spelled that right) is brand new this year and replaces the old Ray Winder Field in Little Rock. The new field is great, except for parking. Anyway, a general night out is on the offing for tonight.

No, I haven't begun my walking routine yet, which I'd planned to do after moving here where there is a safe place to get out and hoof it. The parsonage in Little Rock was on a busy highway, and the terrain was hilly. Here it's flat, and the streets are generally safe from wild drivers. The church parking lot and surrounding neighborhood are flat ground and great places for doing what both Jim and I should have been doing for years now. Soon. Yes, that's it. Soon. ....winks

Well, despite the heat outside, it's a comfy 70 something inside, and I need a second cup of coffee. I'll try to get here more often. There just doesn't seem to be as much free time as I used to have...... yet.

Later, y'all!