Summer Begins

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Happy Summer All! Summer began some 5 minutes ago.

So, what'cha doin' now that summer's here?

[Stuckinagroove]

It actually began in late april here.

[Monte Smith]

Because of the solstice, I intend to be moving through space with my side of the equator foremost to the sun until the equinox.

How about you guys?

Anyone up for standing some megaliths on end in a circle?

[crawjo]

My summer will be spent taking care of the kid and working on writing projects. In July we are taking a week's vacation that will see us, at various points of our journey, through Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, and in August we are going to Maine.

Other than that, I hope to listen to a lot of good music for the next couple of months.

[john williams]

Winter here.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by JBW

Winter here.

Fucking primitive.

[john williams]

Yes I know, no matter how hard we try down here we just can't seem to synchronise our seasons with yours. That'll teach us for going metric, eh?

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by JBW

That'll teach us for going metric, eh?

Amen. If anything is written in the stars, it should be the superiority of the Northern Sky. But I guess you just wouldn't know.

[john williams]

We haven't even looked up yet!

[Monte Smith]

Figgers.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Busybusybusy.

My wife's just started her first principal assignment -- Healdsburg High Summer School -- and she's been swamped for two weeks already. I went in with her a 6 AM on Friday to help her set up for registration, and the classes start today, Monday. So until late July I'll be try to picking up the slack for housework, taxiing our daughter around, making social arrangements, etc.

My son's leaving home in less than a month, headed for the dorms of Ex'pression Center For New Media, a new high tech college of the arts in Emoryville of all places, highly recommended by our friends in the field (Pixar). So we're working on the final stages of that BIG transition.

Gigwise: I successfully audtioned for a sixth weekly club, an advanced club in Marin County, and I'll be starting there Fridays in August. July and August, as usual, are pretty solidly booked, at this point maybe three or four night off July, zero nights off in August. I'm teaching an unusually large number of classes this year: Last Monday the dancers' Cooperative started a new Beginners class, in August my Thursday club will start a beginner class, in September my Wednesday club will begin a brush-up course for rusty intermediate (Plus Level) dancers, and also in September I'll start teaching two advanced classes, for my Sunday and new Friday advanced goups. And if I have enough couples, I will start a new Challenge class in the late shift on Sunday.

Projectwise: First, I need to finish sending out the invitations to my 60th birthday party. Then I need to get my laptop programmed to put my dance music on it, transfer the music (or get the process going, anyway) and learn how to use the system. And I need to work toward finishing my partly completed historical square dance novel.

Last summer I started training for an October marathon and got some good long distances in, but the weather was too hot too often for me to get my 20-milers in, so I didn't do the race. My workout program did, however, have me weighing less and running faster than I had in years, and I'll like to get back to that level of conditioning.

And catch my daughter's tennis matches, and take some late-night walks with my wife, and listen to some good music...

[gonzo]

will be working 40hrs. week instead of 30.

[Enforcer]

Summer doesn't officially begin for me until I complete my annual ritual. I have to play Miles Davis Eighty One on the home sound system on a warm evening, with a breeze blowing through open windows. Since everyone seems to be getting antsy for Summer to start, I'll get right on that tonight, even though I have a lot to do.

Putting the needs of the group before his own,
Larry

[Chris D]

Dodging the maneating skeeters. Getting in a semblance of a perennial garden: Gallardia yesterday!
Lacing line drives for the Big Ten Pub. Staffing the Weber for the fireworks picnic-party.
Heading to the Dells to meet relatives, who will put us up in a swank villa. Checking the boys and girl dog for deer ticks.
Taking Anthony to T-ball. Listening to the 2-year-old cry because he's too young to play.

[Root Doctor]

Heading to the Cape on Friday for a week's vacation with the family, followed by a week of daytrips throughout VT and Canada. I plan on attending loads of VT Expos and Mountaineers games with the young man until their respective seasons end.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

I'm doing the same things that I did during the winter except that it's warmer and I'm liking it a lot.................

[clinthopson]

Here in SoCal, June is the worst month of the year with offshore flows causing what we call June Gloom. They also call it Catalina Eddy which sounds like a character out of Damon Runyon.

Virtually the whole month of June is like this with overcast until the mid-afternooon when it usually burns off to sunshine. The temps are in the mid 70's to low 80s.

Now that the worst weather we experience all year. And that's why I live here.

[SinginSumo]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

...offshore flows causing what we call June Gloom. They also call it Catalina Eddy which sounds like a character out of Damon Runyon...

G-d, I LOVE Damon Runyon's stories! Glad to learn that you enjoy his writing too, Clint!

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by Dennis Gonzalez

Happy Summer All! Summer began some 5 minutes ago.

So, what'cha doin' now that summer's here?

Celebrating my daughter's birthday

She's all of 9 today...

[Ron Thorne]

The beginning of Summer always begins (for me) with the celebration of my wife's birthday, which this year was also Father's Day. They also coincided on the year she was born.

We have a family reunion of sorts in Hope, Alaska at the log home of Patti's parents on July 4th, a tradition of nearly 20 years. Family members, beginning with our son and daughter-in-law, will begin arriving for their annual summer trek to Alaska this weekend. Our other son and his girlfriend from Japan (both of whom live in California at present) arrive early next week. Patti's oldest sister is flying up for the event from Seattle. Our daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, niece, nephews and other family members who live in the area will all join us. Fun times!

Patti and I dedicate a lot of time to gardening on our property, tending to minor painting and other fixups. This summer we plan to add some additional insulation in one portion of our cozy little home. There's always something to attend to, especially after close inspection once Winter is over.

Fly fishing is always a part of the Summertime agenda, as are as many cookouts as possible, replete with the bounties of our crisp, clean Alaskan waters.

Since our oldest son and his wife purchased lakefront property last summer, we'll likely visit this area and stake out the spot for their future cabin. We'll use their canoe to reach it. A skiff with outboard is in the near future.

[clinthopson]

Originally Posted by SinginSumo

G-d, I LOVE Damon Runyon's stories! Glad to learn that you enjoy his writing too, Clint!

I used to ape Runyon's style in a column I wrote for a local rag.

"Things were very dicey when Louie the Thumb faced Big Sam the Arranger. . ."