THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

It’s August… and it’s HOT! The thermometer has reached close to 100 degrees every day for the past 3 weeks, and it doesn’t look like there’s any relief in sight.

The good news is that Autumn is ONLY 35 days away (as of August 18, 2022), and believe you me, I will be counting the days! Fall is one of my favorite seasons, it might just be my favorite, but I also really enjoy Spring… so, depending on the time of the year depends on which season I enjoy more.

Last week John and I were in Surry, VA with another couple. We took our pup, Beau Scout, with us. Since we retired and now that COVID is considered a “new normal”, we are trying to get a bit more traveling done. We told ourselves that we will try to bring our pup with us as much as possible when we go anywhere. Most places are pet friendly these days, but unfortunately just because they accept animals doesn’t mean they want them with you inside their establishments. I truly understand this, but what it typically means for us is that we are sitting outside, in the sun and in the heat! Last week we were at a wonderful little restaurant on Grays Creek, VA. The view was absolutely beautiful, and thankfully they did have umbrellas set up at the tables out on the deck. If it had been about 25 degrees cooler it would have been ideal, but it was 96 degrees and sunny with not a whiff of a breeze, and dang, it was HOT! I sweated in places I didn’t know I could sweat, y’all! They brought Beau a bowl of water with ice cubes, which he enjoyed, but the poor little guy could not find cool shade anywhere he lay. He is a little black dog and just absorbs the heat when he’s in the sunshine… and he usually loves it… but he was not having it this time. We quickly ate our salad and shrimp plates and left, turning the A/C up as high as possible in our hot and toasty minivan and headed back to the place we were staying (a home built in 1760’s) and enjoyed a nice, cool beverage and the comfort of modern amenities – thanks to recent remodeling.

It was a great trip, as it usually is when you get to catch up with lifelong friends that you see only once or twice a year. We are back home now, and I am I’m trying to motivate myself to get back into the workshop and get busy crafting more pens (including my unique and awesome photo pens) and things because I have registered for about 8 arts & craft markets this Fall and I need to build up my supply, so I have something to sell. The problem is that my workshop is in my garage, and although I have a little portable air conditioner out there, it really struggles when it’s this hot and it cannot seem to beat this unbearable heat we have been having here in Raleigh, North Carolina. If I’m lucky it’ll bring the temperature down to about 82 degrees out there, but y’all, that’s still too dang hot when you have to wear all the PPE needed to work on the lathe. I’ll do it; I have to… and I’m sure I’ll be thankful I did when I look back in a few weeks.

(Photo is of our pup, Beau Scout on D.o.G. Street in Williamsburg, VA – August 1, 2022)