Dear Reader:

With the humidity so heavy the last couple of days…it feels like you need a machete just to cut your way through it. Ah…the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” are here. The only good thing about it…is that we southern gals get a free facial every time we step out the door.

Accordin’ to southern folklore summer starts in April in the South. So really we have been in this season for a couple of months now. And realistically, since we live in a semi-tropical weather zone…what else should we expect except ‘hot and humid’ as our primary definin’ weather pattern.

Livin’ in the South in the summer is not for the timid or faint of heart…we just have to learn to “go with the flow” as we like to say around here.

Mother was pretty calm and “cool” about most things unless she got HOT! And then…watch out! Back before we had air-conditionin’ Dora would warn us if ‘mama’ was comin’ home from work hot. We knew to run get the one big floor fan and put it right in front of her favorite big chair.

Dora would started fixin’ a big glass of cold iced tea for “Miz Cil” and then  warned us (before she left to catch her bus) that we better behave and not act like “we wuz raised in a barn.” I can still picture that index finger of Dora’s pointin’ and wavin’ at us while shakin’ her head before she left some days.

Mother’s favorite expressions on those hot days of summer when she got home was ” I feel like I’ ve been through the wringer.” “Ah’m bout to BURN up!”  Dora would have left supper warming in the oven. Ben would get the TV tray and put in front of mother’s chair and the fan, David would re-fill the tea, and I would put mama’s supper plate on the tray.

We would set the black and white television on whatever mama wanted to see and then slink back into the kitchen to eat to give time for mama to have a few precious minutes of quiet time and cool down. Even young kids know when to lay low. Hot days were always “lay low” days for us!

The last time the computer gremlins came callin’ I discovered the cutest rendition of the Lord’s Prayer that a pastor had written….most likely after contendin’ with one too many Iphone’s going off in church or congregational members texting or the office computer breaking down for the umpteenth time…(must be running off all those bulletins for church service each week…church computers/copiers have a very short life span.)

The Lord is my Server, I shall not crash

“The Lord is my Programmer,
I shall not crash.
He installed His software on the hard disk of my heart;
all of His commands are user-friendly.
His directory guides me to the right choices
For His names sake
Even though I scroll through the problems of life,
I will fear no bugs, for he is my backup.
His password protects me.
He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies.
His help is only a keystroke away.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
And my file will be merged with His and saved forever.”

Rev. Ken Fox

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  Jakie has, hands down, the most southern accent of all the grandchildren…his first word was “Git“…not Get…”Git” and he is always telling me that he is goin’ to “Go Git his truck or go git his favorite blankie.” (Or he asks me to go “git” it.)

And it isn’t just the words…but more the “twang” when he talks now…we all keep shakin’ our heads…“Where did that come from?”…Eva Cate didn’t and doesn’t have that twang or his cousins Rutledge and Lachlan.

(Of course I really can’t talk too much about it…because my Eastern North Carolina twang has hung in there all these years in spite of livin’ in a more cosmopolitan area in the lowcountry. I always have people come up to me when I am shoppin’ or something…and say “I thought that was you…I knew your voice the minute I heard it.”)

Jakie must have genetically inherited my North Carolina “twang” but that’s okay Jakie…at least people will always recognize you by it darlin’! It’s your callin’ card!

So until tomorrow…Remember summer is all about smiles.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

“I’m fixin’ to close the blog up now for the night but will see everyone tomorrow…Heck Yeah!”