And as usual, there were so many things I meant to do and didn't. Well, it wasn't much of a summer here. What summer activity didn't you get around to? I never once had a picnic this year.
Drop down to Alvin, Texas, and I'll show you summer. It'll be 98° here today, and the humidity will be high, too. I don't think you'd want to have a picnic, though.
Other than my writing goals I didn't get to, the only thing we didn't do that I wanted was visit a waterpark. On the upside, I read a lot of stuff, most of which I haven't written about. All in all, a good summer. Hot as the dickens, but, hey: it's Texas.
But you can have a picnic in November, Bill & Scott. Here it will be snowing. When we had children, we made sure we did all the summer things. Now they seem to get away from us--much like the kids did.
Summer rained it way through PA this year, at least where we live, and its still raining. We dragged the grill out for Father's Day and only used it once since.
I taught online courses all summer so I guess the thing I missed this summer is rest. As you know, Patti, when you're teaching there are always things to do: email to respond to, tests to make up, correcting, and books to read to get ready for the next course. I really don't like heat (or sharing my food with insects) so picnics are out.
We don't teach or do university stuff in the summer, George, so we have no excuse other than being tied to a computer too much. It rained here most of the summer too I think we share a weather pattern, Sandra. Thanks, Jerry. I may take you up on it.
I have been so busy teaching during the summer term and planning for the fall semester that I completely forgot that I was supposed to do something "pleasurable" during the summer. Of course, when I think of the most pleasant summers, I have to remember my "Tom Sawyer" days as a child when I was too young and too naive to understand that life would eventually turn all those good old days into wistful memories.
I think my Tom Sawyer days extended through the years I had kids at home. Air-conditioning really ended summer in some respects. No more excuse to hang around pools all day. Professors can't teach in the summer here. The university has to pay them too much so they use grad students.
I haven't been to a softball game all summer despite being closely involved with the sport for more than forty years. The slo-pitch team I formed in 1978 is playing in the Can-Am Games in Fargo, ND this weekend for the 31st consecutive year, but I'm not missing being there. Despite all the rain and cold weather, I jump on my bike most clear evenings and often ride out to our large park about 10 minutes from my home where free outdoor concerts are held at a replica of an old movie theatre several times a week. Last week it was a western swing band and a big band with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers and tonight it's smooth jazz. Last night AC-DC were playing an outdoor concert in front of 45,000 fans at our football stadium just across the river, but that's one more thing I didn't do this summer - listen.
My husband and son go to 12 Tiger games but I didn't get to one this year. We did go to a summer concert but it was inside a church. Not quite the same. I did get to Stratford and saw two plays but that's about it. Oh, one trip to the zoo.
Most every summer, I got a chance to walk in the Atlantic surf. Last year it was the Aegean. This year, I worked on the lawn sprinkers and that's as close as I got to getting my feet wet - outdoors anyway.
I had the summer that wasn't. I've had a medical situation from the middle of June onward ... cellulitis leading to hospitalization, allergic reaction to the antibiotic, antibiotic messing with my kidneys. Whoosh! Summer went by. Didn't get to go to movies, walk my dog, do much for 4th of July ... On the bright side, being couch-ridden, I've gotten a lot of reading done. :)
I didn´t put on my bikini even once. (Mainly because we spent the very best days in Edingburgh). We are having rather nice weather in Denmark right now, however, after a few cold & rainy weeks.
I know more people that visited Edinburgh this summer. I spent a summer in Amsterdam. It was gorgeous every day, which was unusual, I know. I guess Denmark is sort of similar. Love to get there once and see those lovely buildings.
What's the Worst Thing That Can Happen, Al Tucher, A TWIST OF NOIR
The Good Doctor, Adam Haslett, YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE
Clouds in A Bunker, David Cranmer, PULP INK
Burning End, Ruth Rendell, THE BEST OF THE BEST SHORT STORIES 1986-1995
Something is Out There, Richard Bausch, MURDERLAND
Uncle, Daniel Woodrell, A HELL OF A WOMAN
Dark Adapted Eye, Katherine Tomlinson, SHOTGUN HONEY
Whiteout on Van Buren, Don Winslow, PHOENIX NOIR
An Invisble Minus Sign, Denise Mina, DEADLY HOUSEWIVES
Everything I Want, Megan Abbott, SPEED CHRONICLES
The Garage Sale of the Three Lindas, Marly Swick, THE SUMMER BEFORE THE SUMMER OF LOVE
Everybody Loves Somebody, Sandra Scoppettone, A HELL OF A WOMAN
Harpooned, Sandra Seamans, MYSTERICAL-E
Burn Patterns, Michael C. White MARKED MEN
World of Gas, Bonnie Jo Campbell AMERICAN SALVAGE
Snakes in the Briar Patch, Chad Eagleton, Cathode Angel
Sea of Grass, Jim Wilsky, ROSE AND THORN
The Pool, Keith Taylor from LIFE SENTENCES
Locked Out, Art Taylor, PLOTS WITH GUNS
Giving Blood, John Updike from THE MAPLES
Two and Half Miles, W.D. County, SPINETINGLER
ReBecca, Vicki Hendricks, FLORIDA GOTHIC STORIES
What is Your Emergency, Chris Rhatigan, GRIFT MAGAZINE
Here We Are in Paradise, Tony Earley
2. 984, 000 Pounds of Pressure, Anonymous Nine. Crime Factory: The First Shift
You Boys Be Good, Antonya Nelson
A Blunderbuss for a Broken Heart, Chris LeTray Pulp Modern 2
Spending Light, John Stickney, NEEDLE, Issue 2
365- February
A New Life, Kyle Minor, DISCOUNT NOIR
A Composer and His Parakeets, Ha Jin GOOD FALL
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates
Girls in Their Summer Dresses, Irwin Shaw
The Last Spin, Evan Hunter
The Birthday Party, Graham Greene
Blue, Rachel Seiffert, FIELD STUDY
Tonto Woman, Elmore Leonard, THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES
Only Good Ones, Elmore Leonard, THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD
Super Trooper, Nigel Bird, OFF THE RECORD
The Incident at Owls' Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce
Food Man, Lisa Tuttle, BEST OF CRANK
The Babysitter's Code, Laura Lippman, PLOTS WITH GUNS
Graveyard Shift, James Reasoner, Hard-Boiled
Portrait of An American Family, Benoit Lelievre, SHOTGUN HONEY
Thanks for the Ride, Alice Munro, Dance of the Happy Shades
A MAtter of Principal, Max Allan Collins, FAVORITE KILLS
Cold Snap, Thom Jones COLD SNAP
Piano Man, Bill Crider, ON DANGEROUS GROUND
The Ladder, Adrian McKinty, CRIME FACTORY: FIRST SHIFT
THe Confessor, Lonni Lees, SHOTGUN HONEY
Plaything, Daniel Hatadi, DEADLY TREATS
Going to Shrewsbury, Sarah Orne Jewett, THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS
Sunlight Nocturne, Bill Cameron, DEADLY TREATS
Escapes, Joy Williams, ESCAPES
Ugly Pictures, Terrie Moran, THE AWARENESS
Just Another Saturday Night, William Link, EQMM
Pride, P.J. Parrish, DETROIT NOIR
Bonus, Jim Ray Daniels, DETROIT TALES
Casanova Succumbs to Two-Ton Tina, Rob Kitchin, A TWIST OF NOIR
The Lost Child, Jean Thompson WHO DO YOU LOVE
365-March
365 March
Unfortunate Misfortunes of a Man Named Lud, John Weagly, FIRES ON THE PLAIN
Lamb to the Slaughter, Roal Dahl
The Navy Man, Kyle Minor, IN THE DEVIL'S TERRITORY
Cops and Robbers, Jean Stafford, MOTHERLOVE
Tort, Ken Bruen, EQMM
Melinda, Judy Doenges, O'HENRY AWARDS
Honeymoon, Arturo Vivante, SOLITUDE
Hard Rain, Katherine Tomlinson, NOHO NOIR
Bobby Conroy Comes Back from the Dead, Joe Hill, THE LIVING DEAD
Death is Daily, Craig Garret , FIRES ON THE PLAIN
Ice, Lily Tuck, 2011 O'Henry Collection
The Basher, Jason Starr, Wall Street Noir
Your Fate Hurtles Down at You, Jim Shepard, 2011 O'Henry Collection
The Neglected Garden, Kathe Koja, WEIRD STORIES
Windeye, Brian Evenson, 2011 O'HENRY COLLECTION
Triangulation, Anonymous-9, THE BIG CLICK
The Genius, Frank O'Connor
Why I Live at the PO, Eudora Welty
How to Talk To Your Mother, Lorrie Moore, SELF HELP
Jungle Bob, Ron Scheer, FIRES ON THE PLAIN
Last Song of Antietam, Patrick Lambe, ON DANGEROUS GROUND
On the Gull's Road, Willa Cather
Leaf in the Wind, Gene Wolfe, STORIES
Pack of Cards, Penelope Lively
Ember Days, Nick Ripatrazone, PLOTS WITH GUNS
The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck
Stay Awake, Dan Chaon, STAY AWAKE
Smantha's Diary, Diana Wynne Jones, STORIES
Unwell, Carolyn Parkhurst, STORIES, (Gaiman and Sarrantonio)
Naked Angel, Joe Lansdale, L.A. NOIRE
The Bees, Dan Chaon, STAY AWAKE
Blue Rose, Peter Straub
365 -April
Land of the Lost, Stewart O'Nan, STORIES Push Comes to Shove, B.V. Lawson, NEEDLE What He Was Like, William Maxwell, Running Hard, R. Thomas Brown, ALL DUE RESPECT Mr. & Mrs. Dove, Katherine Mansfield (online) The Beginning of Grief, Adam Haslett Family Ties, Craig McDonald, GRIFT Rosie's Chicken & Biscuits, Axel Howerton, FIRE ON THE PLAINS Not Quite Final, Richard Bausch, Who Has Seen the Wind, Carson McCullers, Confession, Stella Pope Duarte, PHOENIX NOIR Bonanza, Jo Ann Beard, THE BOYS OF MY YOUTH Flying Solo, Ed Gorman, DAMN NEAR DEAD 2 Triage, Alice Elliott Dark She Don't Eat No Meat, Kurt Gowran, NEEDLE No Rest for the Weary, Sandra Seamans, FOTP The Traveler, Wallace Stegner, THE COLLECTED STORIES Mortals, Tobias Wolff, THE NIGHT IN QUESTION Here Comes Santa Claus, Bill Pronzini Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waterbed, Robert Olen Butler, He Loved Her So Much, Sandra Scoppettone, LOVE KILLS How to Become a Writer, Lorrie Moore, SELF HELP I Danced with the Prettiest Girl, Dagoberto Gilb, Zolaria, Caitlin Horrocks, THIS IS NOT YOUR CITY The Squatter, Andy Henion, PLOTS WITH GUNS Romero's Shirt, Dagoberto Gilb, THE MAGIC OF BLOOD Pie Dance, Molly Giles, YOU'VE GOTTA READ THIS. Greatness Strikes Where it Pleases, Lars Gustaffson The Infamous Bengal Ming, Rajesh Parameswaran, A Hand on the Shoulder, Ian McEwan, THE NEW YORKER A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O'Connor Hard Times, Ron Rash, BURNING BRIGHT Peconic Nightmares, R. Thomas Brown, BEAT TO A PULP The Best of Everything, Richard Yates
26 comments:
Drop down to Alvin, Texas, and I'll show you summer. It'll be 98° here today, and the humidity will be high, too. I don't think you'd want to have a picnic, though.
Other than my writing goals I didn't get to, the only thing we didn't do that I wanted was visit a waterpark. On the upside, I read a lot of stuff, most of which I haven't written about. All in all, a good summer. Hot as the dickens, but, hey: it's Texas.
But you can have a picnic in November, Bill & Scott. Here it will be snowing.
When we had children, we made sure we did all the summer things. Now they seem to get away from us--much like the kids did.
No cookouts so far.
Ditto, Randy.
Summer rained it way through PA this year, at least where we live, and its still raining. We dragged the grill out for Father's Day and only used it once since.
I taught online courses all summer so I guess the thing I missed this summer is rest. As you know, Patti, when you're teaching there are always things to do: email to respond to, tests to make up, correcting, and books to read to get ready for the next course. I really don't like heat (or sharing my food with insects) so picnics are out.
Hate to see you miss out. You and yours are cordially invited to a picnic/cookout at our place. Just name the date.
wv: ficies -- something not served at our house.
We don't teach or do university stuff in the summer, George, so we have no excuse other than being tied to a computer too much.
It rained here most of the summer too I think we share a weather pattern, Sandra. Thanks, Jerry. I may take you up on it.
I have been so busy teaching during the summer term and planning for the fall semester that I completely forgot that I was supposed to do something "pleasurable" during the summer. Of course, when I think of the most pleasant summers, I have to remember my "Tom Sawyer" days as a child when I was too young and too naive to understand that life would eventually turn all those good old days into wistful memories.
I think my Tom Sawyer days extended through the years I had kids at home. Air-conditioning really ended summer in some respects. No more excuse to hang around pools all day.
Professors can't teach in the summer here. The university has to pay them too much so they use grad students.
No picnics for me either. And not a single outdoor concert.
The closest I got to an outdoor concert was my two-year old grandson singing Wiggle songs with a shovel as a guitar on my front lawn.
It's very difficult to picnic here during the summer because of the heat. We do our picknicking in the fall. But I never once went for a swim!
I guess a larger question might be, have summer activities changed over time.
I haven't been to a softball game all summer despite being closely involved with the sport for more than forty years. The slo-pitch team I formed in 1978 is playing in the Can-Am Games in Fargo, ND this weekend for the 31st consecutive year, but I'm not missing being there. Despite all the rain and cold weather, I jump on my bike most clear evenings and often ride out to our large park about 10 minutes from my home where free outdoor concerts are held at a replica of an old movie theatre several times a week. Last week it was a western swing band and a big band with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers and tonight it's smooth jazz. Last night AC-DC were playing an outdoor concert in front of 45,000 fans at our football stadium just across the river, but that's one more thing I didn't do this summer - listen.
My husband and son go to 12 Tiger games but I didn't get to one this year. We did go to a summer concert but it was inside a church. Not quite the same. I did get to Stratford and saw two plays but that's about it. Oh, one trip to the zoo.
I didn't get to go in a hot air balloon like I planned this summer but I may be able to still do it this fall if I return in time.
Won't you come, David Cranmer? Won't you come home?
Most every summer, I got a chance to walk in the Atlantic surf. Last year it was the Aegean. This year, I worked on the lawn sprinkers and that's as close as I got to getting my feet wet - outdoors anyway.
I'm just happy to have your feet on the ground, Chuck.
I had the summer that wasn't. I've had a medical situation from the middle of June onward ... cellulitis leading to hospitalization, allergic reaction to the antibiotic, antibiotic messing with my kidneys. Whoosh! Summer went by. Didn't get to go to movies, walk my dog, do much for 4th of July ... On the bright side, being couch-ridden, I've gotten a lot of reading done. :)
Wow. I have no right to complain after hearing that. So sorry!
Nah, everyone has their own goods and bads. :)
I didn´t put on my bikini even once. (Mainly because we spent the very best days in Edingburgh). We are having rather nice weather in Denmark right now, however, after a few cold & rainy weeks.
I know more people that visited Edinburgh this summer.
I spent a summer in Amsterdam. It was gorgeous every day, which was unusual, I know. I guess Denmark is sort of similar. Love to get there once and see those lovely buildings.
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