Friday, July 3, 2009

as irony would have it, i live in a place where it's Summer eight out of every twelve months.

so here i am, on my three-day holiday weekend. i'm reclined on my couch, laptop perched next to me. i feel the cool breeze from the ceiling fan as it circulates the air-conditioned air over me, gently (and hearing that maddening intermittent tick-tick-tick that would indicate a slight imbalance which, interestingly enough, stops when i cast an annoyed glance in its direction...but i digress).

somewhere outside, someone is mowing a lawn. that low hum brings me back to my childhood in an instant, and is an integral part of the very definition of Summer in The Dictionary of Dawn. we didn't have an air conditioner when i was a kid, save for the open windows & the God-sent breeze to cool the indoors, or a shade tree & some lemonade if the heavy motionless air (or your Gram) drove you outside. on the very hottest dog days of late July into August, Gram might bring out the coveted fan, with it's transparent blue plastic blades to oscillate quietly in whichever room she happened to be in at the time, making that the room *we* wanted to be in at the time, draping ourselves over whatever we could find that would put us in the path of the electrically-generated breeze. until such point that we drove her crazy--whether by squabbling, knocking something over, asking too many questions, or, i suspect, blocking the breeze from reaching *her*--and we were banished to the aforementioned shade tree outside.

oops. inadvertent side trip down Memory Lane. where was i...?

oh yeah, lawnmowers.

what with said opened windows, inevitably someone was mowing their lawn for what seemed like the entire Summer, and it became the daytime soundtrack to the Summer months, until swapped with the cricket song of After Dark. if not Gram or Gramp or Dad, then one of the neighboring aunties or uncles or cousins. or the few unrelated neighbors who had infiltrated the otherwise family-tree forest corner of Chippens Hill. or someone half a mile away as the sound would hover on the thick still air & carry for what seemed half a town away.

whomever the mower belonged to at any particular moment in time, it's a sound i associate, immediately and inextricably, with Summer. it ranks right up there with barbecues, baseball, lightning bugs, watermelon, fireworks and running around barefoot. it takes just that solitary sound to transport me back to days when Summer was the ultimate anticipation, overshadowed only by Christmas morning, and with a pumpkin-bucket brimming with Halloween loot hot on its heels. the sound of a lawnmower, and all the fond (albeit sweaty and mosquito-bitten) memories, always make me smile and feel that lazy sort of relaxation one only associates with the sultry days of Summer.

but as i sit in my climate-controlled environment in my grown-up world, where i have to pay the lofty Summer electric bill and i don't get two & a half months respite from my job (at least, not without serious consequence), i have to say...

...i think i only like Summer in theory and retrospect.

is there anywhere on this great Earth that is perpetually Autumn?

8 with their own thoughts:

k Friday, July 03, 2009 3:12:00 PM  

perpetually Autumn WOULD be nice huh?!?!

great descriptive post - i could picture you lounging on the couch with laptop nearby!!

Ted D Friday, July 03, 2009 3:15:00 PM  

Closest place I can think of is Northern California, Dawn. Ever time I watch the Giants in the summer, especially at night, they look COLD.

JW.BW Friday, July 03, 2009 4:15:00 PM  

I grew up in Jersey and lived in Florida for a year, then San Diego for 2 years. They were both beautiful, but I did miss the seasons. I dont know about perpetually Autumn, but if its perpetually spring you are looking for, southern California may be your place!!

~**Dawn**~ Friday, July 03, 2009 8:09:00 PM  

K: I cannot think of anything better than year-round Autumn.

Ted: I don't want to be cold! I want warm days & crisp cool nights that give you rosy cheeks. Autumn. ;-)

Jessi: I have awesome friends in SoCal that I can sponge perpetual Spring off of. Why can't there be someplace that's all Autumn all the time?! LOL

Rachel Saturday, July 04, 2009 12:50:00 PM  

I have to agree. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I always long for summer during our long Ohio/New York winters... but Summer is not all it's cracked up to be. Give me the leaves fallin', a nice sweatshirt, and an autumn football game! :)

~**Dawn**~ Sunday, July 05, 2009 7:48:00 AM  

Rcahel: I think I only long for Summer as a kid. It's less about the weather than about the fact that it was carefree. Winter is ok...from Thanksgiving through New Year (unless you mean MY definition of Winter). Spring is a welcome reprieve but it's so soggy. I am pretty sure there is nothing more perfect than a glorious Autumn day: blue skies, vibrant colors, warm during the day but not short-sleeves warm and that crisp nighttime that makes your cheeks rosy.

Mom! Dude! Monday, July 06, 2009 1:10:00 PM  

I am SO with you on this....with 4 kids and hot flashes...summer just needs to melt away into the cool days of November. Not cold, now, mind you, just cool enough that a hot cup of coffee in the morning does not send me into a melted pool of sweat!

~**Dawn**~ Monday, July 06, 2009 2:47:00 PM  

Momma Moe: We definitely get shortchanged on the "cooler weather" thing. I just keep reminding myself that at least we don't have to shovel. ;-)

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