It's September

Loving, loving, loving this weather! Yesterday on the playground felt like one of those home games in Athens when finally you don't feel the "glow" running down your back, making a puddle in your pants. The munchkins noticed the difference, too, and were so excited about the wind blowing. They were turning their faces towards the wind, sticking their tongues out to "catch" it; like puppies hanging their heads out the car window, they were trying to physically capture the breeze. It seems as if all the rain we had last weekend broke the back of the oppressive humidity. There are some hot days here and there yet to come but nothing like summer days past. There is always a turning point, a day when the change is palpable and you know the season has changed. I've always found it interesting and, frankly, hilarious that one particular date is designated as the official start of summer, June 21st. Down here in God's country we start donning shorts and sandals in March and swimming in late April or early May. Swimming dates depend on if you're in a pool - that's April- or the lake - that's May unless you don't mind being numb from the waist down for 3 days after your dip! Of course trying to wash all that lovely, red, squishy Georgia mud off of your bathing suit, arms, legs, hair, etc. will heat you right up! Then riding with the car windows down because you smell like fish poop and dead leaves will get you good and dry before you hit Pollard's Corner.

When my baby sister was held hostage up north for 2 years...oops...when her husband was transferred to Pennsylvania, she experienced a winter siege that included summer arriving and departing on the same day - July 4th! There were some things Beth enjoyed about the small town in which they lived but weather was not one of them! She had never seen black ice but that's what happens to months of snow that's plowed up in huge drifts on the side of the road. Car exhaust and dirt of every description attaches itself to the drifts; not exactly the pictures on our Christmas cards! And her children were greatly disappointed to find out there aren't "snow days" in that part of the world unless the snow covers the windows. After the first big snowfall the kids were jumping up and down celebrating the anticipated day at home. That's when my sister said, "No snow day. Snow here means long johns under school clothes, snow boots, snow plow, school bus snow tires. Now get ready." Can't you picture those 3 sad little faces dragging themselves around waiting for the bus? Wondering, what happened to one snowflake in Georgia and we run to buy bread, milk and batteries for the long-winter's nap?! Beth said that one morning she was about to peep at the weather thermometer and was silently praying, "God, please let it be above zero." That was the moment she had an epiphany that screamed within her "I am begging for above-zero temperatures. My mama didn't raise me to live like this! Lawd, get me outta' here!" It proved to be their last winter in Pennsylvania. My brother-in-law ain't a dummy, honey.

Speaking of weather, our old pal at Channel 12, Bob Smith, has retired. Tonight at 11 was his last broadcast. For 32 years I've watched "Accu-Bob." That nickname has even become part of this area's colloquial expressions. It's not always used to reference remarks about weather; someone spouts a random fact and the sarcastic response is "Thanks for that report, Accu-Bob!" Bob Smith is a fine Christian man who served our community on and off the air. My mother is a Bob "groupie" and has been keeping one of those Bob Smith Severe Weather guides for years. How will we know when to scream like a girl and hide in the closet if Bob isn't around...and that's just for Bill!

Talked to Mama tonight. She got a good report at the surgeon's office today. She was a bit disappointed that Dr. Duggan didn't take out all the sutures and stitches but the most important thing is..she can go to the beauty shop tomorrow and get her style on! Gotta' get that hair did! My late, great daddy used to tease Mama and tell her that he wouldn't believe she had passed away until he loaded her into the car, rode her past the beauty shop and then if she didn't raise up he'd let Platt's Funeral home take her on downtown!

I was having a cop-a-thon tonight. Watched the real deals and the dramas...The First 48, Crime 360, Law & Order, The Closer. Love me some Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the LAPD! And those real female cops down in Broward County are smart and f-i-e-r-c-e ! The criminals don't always get their due but it's not from lack of trying on the part of these women -and their male counterparts. I love those gotcha' moments when the murderers, rapists, child molesters get that deer-in-the-headlights look because they realize they've been caught by these dedicated men and women. I'm married to a former cop, and have cousins retired from the F.B.I., and the Miami/Dade Sheriff's Dept., and an uncle retired from the U. S. Marshals Service. I better not get started - this is a blog for another time.

Hubby is home. Time to frisk him and slap the cuffs on!!

Love to all y'all!