Dog Days of Summer

I don't know when I developed an intolerance to heat but for some reason, this year seems hotter than all others. Perhaps it's because I'm older now and I pay more attention to it or to the electric bills for air conditioning or perhaps it really is hotter than it was when I was a child.

I grew up with no air conditioning. So it shouldn't be a big deal now, but it is. Back then, our little cinder block home only had an attic fan and casement windows for ventilation. During summer months, we'd wear as little as possible to stay cool. Thank God for shorts and for Mama letting us run around barefooted.

I used to hate our old tile floor in the living room and in the kitchen because when it was dirty and I wasn't wearing shoes, it felt gritty beneath my feet. But in the summers, that tile was so cool beneath my skin and I was thankful for it.

We spent most of our summer days back then playing outside beneath huge Oak and Pine trees. Their shade helped keep us cool. Occasionally, we'd play in the sprinkler or squirt each other with the hose.

One Summer, Mama signed us up for swimming lessons at our local pool. I don't know how much she had to pay for us to be taught to swim, but I was very grateful for the opportunity to learn the basics of swimming and also enjoy the pool after our lessons were over. Back then, I think it cost .50 cents to get in. Teen lifeguards were on duty but that didn't stop people from drowning.


Milam looked like this back in the day

I'll never forget one summer in particular they had to close down the pool because a teenage boy got his leg caught in the drain that filtered debris from the pool. He was unable to get loose and drowned. It was a huge tragedy for a small town.

Summer nights were our saving grace. When we were home and getting ready for bed, Mama would turn on the attic fan, we'd open all our bedroom windows and a gentle breeze would blow across us lulling us to sleep.

One night in particular was scorching. Nothing Mama or Daddy tried to do could help us cool down and we were all complaining. Mama told us to get our pillows and bring them down to her. She took a spray bottle and sprayed each of our pillows with a fine mist and told us to put them in the big chest freezer in the garage. We obeyed although we had no clue what she was doing. After about thirty minutes, she told us to get our pillows and go back to bed.

The pillows were nice an cold! What an ingenious idea. I think Mama could have become a millionaire if she'd thought to invent cooling gel that goes inside many pillows and mattresses these days.

Milam now

The dog days of summer are usually in late July and August but man, I swear, it seems they're here now. Is it "Climate change" or are they tampering with the weather by other means? Who knows. I could have just become a wimp in my old age, but I don't think so.

Every day I sit out on my back patio and enjoy the early morning air. It's breezy and perfect for a cup of tea and a good book. In the afternoons, it gets sweltering and uncomfortable so my husband and I come inside to cool down.

I'm so thankful for air conditioning. I do try to keep the thermostat set at 76 most of the time during the Summer months, but sometimes, we have to drop it down a few notches.

My heart hurts for the homeless this time of year. It must be horrible for them to try and find a place to cool off. Some churches offer respite from the heat for them and I've seen many homeless just sitting in our libraries, heads hung as they try to remain invisible before being kicked out.

Milam at dusk

There are so many things we take for granted each day - a glass of iced water, our air conditioned homes and cars, lightweight clothing, etc.

In the Summer, I always try to keep some cold bottles of water in the car. When we see someone walking on the street in the heat, we offer them a drink. They're usually very grateful.When we do it, we do it in the name of Christ, as He encouraged us to pay particular attention to the less fortunate and to strangers.

Yes, it's hot this summer and it will probably get hotter in the next month or two, but hopefully we can bear it. Thank goodness we haven't had any power grid issues and hopefully we never will.

Can you say "spoiled American"? I'll admit it, I am, especially when it comes to staying cool.

Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out

Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out, especially when I read a friend's blog post and I just can't wrap my head around it. This morning, I was reading a post from a fellow breast cancer survivor. She said her cancer has returned and is growing in her spine. As soon as I read the words, I burst into tears. I just didn't understand! We'd been diagnosed with the same type of cancer in the same year. How could it be that her cancer had returned and mine had not? And what made it even more difficult to understand and accept was the fact that she'd chosen to go the traditional treatment route. I'd opted not to do that. She'd endured chemotherapy, radiation, and the anti-hormone therapy afterward. I'd refused chemo, had done 28 rounds of radiation, and had only taken the anti-hormone drugs for a couple of months. It just didn't compute and it certainly didn't seem fair. But that's what sucks about cancer. It doesn't follow the rules.

Cancer the gift that keeps on giving - the high cost of cancer

There's a basket of bills sitting in the corner of my bedroom. I try not to look at it as I enter the room but I know it's there. Its contents spill out onto the floor whenever my husband stuffs another bill into the basket. Usually, when the mail comes, he gets it first so he can filter what I see and what I don't see. Since he's the only one working, he takes care of our financial responsibilities and while I'm thankful for that, I'm not ignorant about our mounting bills. Cancer is expensive. Even if you've reached maintenance phase, it's costly. There are always tests to be run, blood to be taken, doctors to see. It never ends. Just knowing this will be a continual process for the rest of my life frustrates me and the alternative, death, will be my only way out. It would be nice to know that cancer could be a once and done kind of thing but that's only wishful thinking. Everyone knows cancer is a long and very involved illness. I had no id

Incoming!

When I was a kid, I remember listening to my Daddy occasionally talk about being in the service. Those occasions were very rare so whenever he'd talk, I'd really listen. Once he told about being outside a bunker in Japan. He said planes were flying overhead and he heard a guy yell, "Incoming!" They knew that meant it was imperative to take cover and they did, but some of the soldiers weren't fast enough. They lost their lives in a split second. That one word was a very serious warning and one I never forgot. I think my eyes bugged out of my head when he first said it although he didn't say it in a frightening way. I imagined the sounds of aircraft overhead as the warning went out. And imagined how I'd have felt if I'd been right there with him. I'd have been petrified, probably unable to move. No wonder so many soldiers came back from war with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). And when they were freshly home, it didn't take much to set t

Journey Out of Pink

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