Well, according to the date, summer is here. However, a person would not really know it from judging by the temperature. The warmest day we have had so far is 26 degrees Celsius, but I don't remember when that was because it was quite a while ago and also because I do not remember the last time I saw the sun.
Wow, have we had rain. I know I should not complain because our past 10 or so summers have been so dry and now everything outside is coloured in a beautiful mix of lovely green hues. All the vegetation is denser and plumper than I ever remembered it being (for at least as long as we have lived here). And something I really can't get over is the number of birds I see and hear every day. Birds intrigue me. I love watching them. Their power of flight and their ability to survive in harsh environments have compelled me to hold them in high esteem. But this year is the first year that I can remember actually hearing bird songs in the seven summers that we have lived here. I do remember always hearing the chickadees from far away, but this summer there is all kinds of song birds that I am noticing. Here I am writing this at 11:00 p.m. at night with my bedroom window open enjoying the songs of a what I believe is a robin. I've seen them hopping around on the grass and flying over the fields too this year. There are also swallows and the usual magpies and crows, also hawks and I've heard owls at night this year too. I wonder if the extra moisture this year has anything to do with it all.
I do know that all this extra moisture has a lot to do with the mosquito explosion this year. There are so many this year that I have seen swarms of them on the highway at night coming home. Last Wednesday night, I was driving home from the city between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. at night. It was very calm because a thunderstorm was on its way and it had been a very warm, humid day. As I was driving, I would notice these tall columns of what looked like smoke in the distance but they would disappear as I got closer. When I slowed down, I could see that those columns were actually swarms of mosquitoes that moved!
So, a week of my summer vacation is over already. I did go back into school to move my belongings from the room I was in because it was being rented out this summer. I hope that where I put everything is not in the way for our custodians, Nester and Isidro. They sure work hard all summer with all the cleaning they have to do in the school. I am glad that the weather is a little on the cooler side for them. That school gets unbearably warm when the weather is hot.
I also became an Avon Lady last week. I have been hooked on a few products from Avon for a few years and was able to get them from Angie (a good friend and teacher I have worked with for the past several years). But now, she is moving to another school to teach and she does not have time to deliver and do all the other work involved, so I thought it was a good opportunity to join and sell it myself. Maybe I can make a little extra money too.
And between Clarence, his mother, and my lovely sons, the rest of the week flew by. I went into the shop to do some cleaning before I can actually settle down and get some work done there. I took my lovely mother-in-law to get some plants and flowers for her yard. For my sons, I made hair cut appointments (and took one there to have the deed done). They all have lists of things for me to do, but I have my own and that will come first (I hope). Anyway, summer has begun ... Let's enjoy because it will be gone faster than we want it to be!
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