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Summer Smoke
May. 7th, 2007 09:12 pmThis evening, just after dark, I stepped onto the back porch to let the dogs out. Next door, there were lights in the neighbor's garage, which means they're outdoors for the evening. Over the stockade fence that separates our yards, I could see them seated around the patio table. I listened for a moment and, above the murmur of their conversation, could hear Pink Floyd's "Time."
It was sunny, today, and moderately warm. But it's been chilly at night and it's very cool when you step from sunlight into morning or evening shadows. Supposedly, this will last through the weekend, the chilly nights and intensely sunny but only temperate days.
I hope it does because this weekend is SU's commencement and Jay is setting up a graduation party for Lissa at our place. He's been here for the past two days, working on the driveway and lawn and flower beds. From the back porch, I can smell the freshly cut grass and, for the first time, begin to sense the settling in of the new season.
On such a night, any other year, the folks next door would've had a wood fire going in their outdoor hearth. They're Mohawk Indians who, in past summers, have often hosted family gatherings, mostly quiet, mostly outdoors, and mostly on weekends. But a week or so ago some uptight neighbor called the city fire department, not because there was really a fire hazard, but because they were (a) pissed about the noise or (b) pissed that someone was having fun.
There's an old joke that goes, "Know what burns my ass?" And the answer is (with appropriate hand gestures), "A fire about so high." What burns mine is people who have no life spoiling things for people who do and who are congenial enough spirits that a little of their laughter, like summer smoke, drifts out over the fences and into the neighborhood.
I'm gonna miss that, this summer...
LPK
LiveJournal
5.7.2007
It was sunny, today, and moderately warm. But it's been chilly at night and it's very cool when you step from sunlight into morning or evening shadows. Supposedly, this will last through the weekend, the chilly nights and intensely sunny but only temperate days.
I hope it does because this weekend is SU's commencement and Jay is setting up a graduation party for Lissa at our place. He's been here for the past two days, working on the driveway and lawn and flower beds. From the back porch, I can smell the freshly cut grass and, for the first time, begin to sense the settling in of the new season.
On such a night, any other year, the folks next door would've had a wood fire going in their outdoor hearth. They're Mohawk Indians who, in past summers, have often hosted family gatherings, mostly quiet, mostly outdoors, and mostly on weekends. But a week or so ago some uptight neighbor called the city fire department, not because there was really a fire hazard, but because they were (a) pissed about the noise or (b) pissed that someone was having fun.
There's an old joke that goes, "Know what burns my ass?" And the answer is (with appropriate hand gestures), "A fire about so high." What burns mine is people who have no life spoiling things for people who do and who are congenial enough spirits that a little of their laughter, like summer smoke, drifts out over the fences and into the neighborhood.
I'm gonna miss that, this summer...
LPK
LiveJournal
5.7.2007
