Hot Humid

 Bad combination, now of heat and humidity, but even with the humidity and a brutal heat index, no chance of rain. At least we aren't being flooded. It looks like a pretty uncomfortable summer is upon us. 

A long time ago I used to put in eight hours working outdoors in conditions worse than these. And I'm talking about hard work, too. I'm so happy to have that sort of thing safely in my past. Are these my "golden years"? I guess so. 

Hot For Sure

 Summer is truly upon us. Anything I need to do outside will be done either very early in the morning or late in the evening, and morning is preferable. And by the way, a sure sign of a trash call will be a little audible "boink" type noise. If you answer the phone, and hear that, hang up immediately and if possible block the number. Someday those scum might find some way around that telltale indicator, but for now it is a reliable guide-- a warning. Boink? Hang up and block.

My Heat Tolerance

 My tolerance for high temperatures seems to have gotten better as I've grown older. It's hot but a thermostat set on 79, plus fans to circulate air in the house, feels comfortable. It helps a lot to have relatively low humidity, and somewhat breezy conditions outside. I'm not suffering-- far from it. It was pleasant outside last evening, and this morning. 

You, know, I've always liked being thrifty. I do buy a lot of my clothing from garage sales and thrift stores. And I've found some really nice stuff at estate sales, but I hardly ever wear shirts anymore, the kind that have collars. T-shirts work best for me, in gray or black. Black in the winter and gray in the summer. My favorite jeans came from an estate sale in 2010. I have some newer ones I got from Amazon a few years ago but I don't like them very much. I've got a bunch of cheap cargo pants I like. I'm still trying to get them "worn in". My favorite t-shirts are pretty well-worn but super comfortable. I wear the rattiest t-shirts to the gym. I've worn a tie on a few occasions, probably not more than a dozen times in my life. I have a pretty nice gray suit I bought new in 1983. I have worn that double-breasted suit five times. That's it. I've still got it. I can't imagine ever wearing it again. I keep it as a nostalgia item. It fit perfectly the last time I wore it, in 2012, when I got married for the second time. I didn't wear a tie, though. I looked something like "The Mentalist". I thank that make it do, wear it out, use it up, is a fine way to live, if you include keep it simple. Simplicity and thrift. Way to go. 

Summer Heat

 I can take it. If I lived much farther south I'd have some trouble. Heat and humidity is a terrible combo. Our humidity levels are going down. The corn I've seen east of me is doing well, so I hope we have more rain. Most of today's business is taken care of. Iced coffee for me, at the moment. I've had my Sunday drive. I enjoy that very much. I enjoyed a couple of my guitars this morning. All of my instruments are heavy with nostalgia. They remind me of instruments I coveted when I was  a college student, and in one case, an instrument I owned when I was a college student. And of instruments I owned in the late seventies. In the late seventies I went through a lot of electric guitars. I wish I'd held onto them. The oldest one I had then dated back to 1958, a Dakota Red Fender Duo-Sonic, with a 22.5 inch scale. Quirky but fun to play. Hard to intonate as I recall, but I finally got it spot on. I contemplate no new guitars. I've got enough. I've covered the bases. 

I like to eat the purple flowers you see above. The rest of the plant is toxic, but the flowers are very good. Pick and eat. 

Getting Hot Again

 And it'll remain humid. Bad combination but about par for the course at this time of year, except for the humidity.