"On the rough wet grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts. We all lie there, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, and I too am lying there....They are not talking much, and the talk is quiet, of nothing in particular, of nothing at all. The stars are wide and alive, they seem each like a smile of great sweetness, and they seem very near. All my people are larger bodies than mine,...with voices gentle and meaningless like the voices of sleeping birds. One is an artist, he is living at home. One is a musician, she is living at home. One is my mother who is good to me. One is my father who is good to me. By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on quilts, on the grass, in a summer evening, among the sounds of the night. May God bless my people, my uncle, my aunt, my mother, my good father, oh, remember them kindly in their time of trouble; and in the hour of their taking away

After a little I am taken in and put to bed. Sleep, soft smiling, draws me unto her: and those receive me, who quietly treat me, as one familiar and well-beloved in that home: but will not, oh, will not, not now, not ever; but will not ever tell me who I am."

The above by James Agee, set to music by Samuel Barber, might be the best description of summer in America ever written, a time for families to be together, to celebrate all that we aspire to be. It's a child-like notion that we will never be separated from those we love and love us. Adults, of course, know better. But knowing better isn't always for the best.

So as we start each new seasonal LC thread, we start with a picture of our dear friend Merek, enjoying summer. This is how we all remember him.



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Yay to the summer thread!

And good start!

The James Agee snippet is great; reminds me of summer visits by my Aunt and Uncle from Seattle when I was a young - and the wonderful evenings on the front poach, listen to the radio, listening to the adults talk of family, and past times and hopes for the future. And the sound of summer crickets which is strangely soothing.

It was 102 degrees today somewhere in California. I'm driving from A to B. B is always hotter. Summer is here for sure.

Here is for a summer with good vibrations for all:

For those of you born before AC.

I joined the Dark Side.

I bought a maxed out MacBook Air.

I've been on Linux for about forever now. Have to admit, I see some benefit to this.

Next, I'll meet a woman that weighs less than 300 lbs, isn't on meth, and lives within 2,000 miles of me.

... Okay, I won't, but who needs companionship when you have a lovely MacBook?

Excellent starting post

I've got so many songs that give me good memories of happy summers, but if I had to choose one to be included in any summer mix it would have to be:

Mungo Jerry.

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Great opening for a thread John. Likely the best one yet.

Ahhhh, summer! My third favorite season behind spring and fall. I am so SO tired of winter. So tired of winter that I have started an obsession that involves retirement in a small mountain town in Panama that boasts of an endless springtime. But that is still a few years out and still just a small light at the end of a tunnel. But at least I am to the point where I do see that light, lol.

Spring was wonderful here in SE Montana. Lots of rain and not too much heat. Everything is still beautifully green and I have only seen 100+ on the thermometer once. Have been out fishing a couple of times but of course not nearly as much as I would like. Work just gets in the way of that. But, I think the highlight of spring was being able to see the youngest grandbaby graduate from kindergarten. I normally don't care much for these somewhat fake "graduations" but it was a wonderful milestone to see the little bugger thriving happy and doing so well after a pretty rough start to his life.

So on we go with summer. I feel good knowing that the chances for snow are very small for the next few months.

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I'm beginning to think I should have signed up for the retirement option being offered in December. Half salary as a bonus, and I qualify for Medicare by then. But I feel too young still. If it were two years from now, I'd be gone.

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In seven years I am 65 and that has always been the mark I had for retirement. Now I am starting to wonder if I can swing doing it a couple of years earlier. It's not that I don't like what I do or where I am. I am just plain tired of working. I want to have my schedule be my own to do what I want when I want and not be tied to being at work.
I have a couple of friends who recently retired and they are really enjoying it. I know some people really enjoy working but I have been working full time for over 40 years, sometimes even with one or two side jobs, and I am just ready to be done. I want to have as many years as I can to do things other than work even if that is nothing. Lol.

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Good to see you again, Fish.

lol I lived my 20s, 30s, and 40s like I was retired. Now I have to work.

Oh well.

I wish I had started my state job at 30 instead of 39. In September, I will have 25 years in, 3 short of full retirement. But since I've been out on sick leave these past two months, I'm starting to entertain the idea of retirement much more seriously.

Of course, if I go back into the classroom, I can work four days a week, thirty weeks a year. That's sort of like retirement.

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yeah. that sounds nice.

There ain't no cure for the summertime blues.

Retirement's been great for my mom and not so great for my dad, I'd say. She's more social and has always had more non-work interests. Right now they're on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary! He's about to turn 85 and she's about to turn 82, still in good health. Hearty Ozark hillbilly stock ftw.

You too daveT!

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In a lot of ways I see where that makes a whole lot of sense.

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And that is a huge reason why I am starting to want to pull the trigger sooner rather than later. I want to not be tethered to work while I am still healthy enough to enjoy myself. I already have some sort of pain somewhere all the time from arthritis and a few. Other minor things that nag me. I tie that into my dad dying at 60 and his dad dying younger than that and it bothers me. I see too many days now where I would rather be fishing but have to be at work. Then when I do have days off the weather sucks and I have to hang around and wish I was fishing. I want to fish when I want to, not whenican

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WhenIWant sounds a lot more fun than WhenICan

Flies are eating me alive. Cows and 2 new horses have moved into pasture right nearby.
Already have a bug zapper. That gets moths and various bugs, but not flies. Anyone have good inside and outside fly solutions?