Is Summer Ending?

It’s the end of August. Yes, I know that summer doesn’t officially end until the autumnal equinox on September 22nd. However, now I am having to pay attention to road signs like this. I have to go around the long line of cars filled with parents waiting to pick up their bundles of joy from school and I have to be careful not to run over any of the bundles of joy that might be crossing the same street that I am driving down. Even when I was one of those bundles of joy going to school back in my hometown, I always felt that the beginning of school was the “real” end of summer.

Of course, I went to schools without any air conditioning. Beginning in Kindergarten through my senior year in high school, I sweated through the beginning and ending of every year. And that was before global warming! Egad! This is what everyone is dealing with now. Even riding around in a car that has air conditioning, I am reminded that I will melt quicker than the Wicked Witch of the West if I step outside. You may notice that the outside temperature in my car reads 102 degrees. That was after parking in the shade for a couple of hours. Soon we all run the risk of turning into lizard people where we sun ourselves on rocks and lick our eyeballs. Why yes, I do read a good bit of science fiction these days. Why do you ask?

Now is the time to begin talking about my favorite holiday. I’ve been waiting since the 4th of July to start talking about it. With the arrival of fall, I start planning for, dreaming of, and pining away for Halloween!  Actually, I have been planning and dreaming and pining about October 31st ever since November 1st But now it is close to the time when my skeleton friends can sit outside on the balcony and walkways of my home. They can watch all of the neighbors and interact with all of the other Halloween decorations. Here is a picture of some of my friends as they sit at home deciding what the theme should be this year. Skeleton Barbie joined us last year. I’m wondering if she is too passe’ for this year. There are many decisions to be made and finalized very soon. It would be nice if the temperature dropped below 100 degrees before we start decorating.

Also, when I get together with my skeleton friends, we come up with new ideas for spooky stories. Haunted Holidays, the annual reading event, is coming up on November 9th this year at Brazos Bookstore. I am telling all of my writer and poet friends to get ready to scare us again this year. But before that I will enjoy Authorpalooza, WiVLA’s 30th anniversary special, and the biannual WiVLA collaboration between visual and literary artists. Fall is definitely going to be busy again this year. However, it is always the most fun with all of my Halloween decorations sitting outside my home and helping me with story ideas. I will share all of the details on all of the above-mentioned celebrations in the next few weeks. You can check out the websites for both WiVLA and the HWG if you want details right now.

Until next time.….….

The Longest Day and Why That Makes Me So Happy!!!!!

For starters, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Summer Solstice! I hope you have plans to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and summer weather. This really is a beautiful day. The only little catch in all of my current happiness is that we here in Houston have just named our first tropical storm for the season. His name is Alberto. Also, there are other weather-related spots moving up on both the Gulf Coast and over by Florida. We may have more tropical storms next week. Usually we don’t see this much activity until August or September, but that was before the days of global warming. Fortunately with this first storm, it struck southwest of us, but was big enough to give a good soaking. I hope our luck holds out for the duration of Hurricane Season. I really don’t think I’m in the mood for a hurricane this year and I hope Mother Nature agrees with my request.

In between tropical storms, there are days like today. Sunny and warm. It may be too hot to exercise outside, but you can still have a nice time walking to your favorite pool or gym. Keep in mind that no matter how hot the weather is this year, it will only get hotter next year. There’s a pleasant thought that should keep you up at night. Still feeling cheerful? In the meantime, enjoy all of the beautiful flowers that cover our landscape this time of year. If you get up early enough, you might be able to walk a little bit before the heat of the day and risking heat stroke. Or maybe a friend can drive around with you to admire the colorful nature blossoms through the window of an air conditioned car. The flowers with their beauty are literally all around us.

Now, here is the most important factor about Summer Solstice and it does not involve flowers or Stonehenge or anything like that. Rather it is now time that we can start an official count down to Halloween. The days now begin to get shorter and shorter. At some point, hopefully before the spookiest day, temperatures will cool down. I don’t mind allowing approximately three months for hot weather; however, in September I start getting very antsy for my collection of witches, skeletons, grim reapers, bats, and other mysterious creatures that scream out “Boo!” In truth I have already started planning my Halloween decorations that will go outside my house. As you can see in this picture, some of my skeleton friends are helping me. I don’t have to worry about decorating the inside of my home, because that remains decorated and haunted all year long.

Bwahaha!

Until next time.….…..