We’ve had a remarkably moderate July… up until the last couple of days. We’ve sat out at dusk or dawn, or even both on some days, enjoying coffee in the morning, cold drinks in the evening. The air had been cool and refreshing, a pleasant meshing of light breezes and pleasing shade.

We watched the rabbits easing their way up the edge of the drive, stopping now and then, cautious but hungry. We saw a pair of doves nipping their sustenance from between the blades of grass and gravel. We enjoyed cereal with fresh raspberries picked from the bushes a hundred feet away. Not even the sound of travel on the highway ruined those moments as we sat on lounge chairs or the front steps, conversing with one another, even using words for part of the sharing.

There is a refreshing in such things and times, a pleasant feeding of the heart and the soul. Cool air and the company of a kindred mind is a fine thing on a summer morning or evening. A few moments or an hour or two without the pressing lists. Such a welcome relief from the heat and pressure.

The last couple of days, though, we have found our relief in the convenience of air conditioning. At ten o’clock last night, the air still felt muggy, a sticky, oppressive heat wrapping around us as soon as we stepped outside. It didn’t take long to decide this wasn’t an evening for lounge chairs on the patio, with or without the mosquitoes.

There are simply times when we need to know that waiting a while for what we want will work better than trying to persuade ourselves that it’s already here.

H. Arnett
7/9/13