Reed's Remember August

Remember how hot August can be? You know what I'm talking about. Days so hot that even with air conditioning you're still wet when you've dried off from a shower! The heat beats down and turns the road ahead a shimmering furnace. Summer heat is here and it's hot - day after day in the 90's with humidity that high.


I remember these days as a kid. It didn't matter if it was hot or not, you still went outside and played. It meant popsicles, sprinklers, going to the beach and (yech) weeding the garden (which it was REALLY hot doing that). We didn't have air conditioning growing up and the nights were just as hot. But, listening to the crickets and toads were a summer symphony that I still enjoy.

August meant finishing up on the last of the green beans and picking that first ear of fresh sweetcorn. Every summer my mom, both grandmothers, one of my grandfathers, brother and I would do corn. That meant picking wheelbarrows full of fresh corn and taking them up to the house. Then we'd all stand around and shuck ear after ear. All this yellow gold was carried down into our basement and my mom would put the ears into a steamy hot pot to let it slowly boil. My job was to take the hot ears and plunge them into ice water in the sink and let them cool. I'd pull them out and hand them to one of my grandmothers, they would cut the corn off the cob and stuff them into freezer containers. Mom's freezer would be full of summer goodies by now - raspberries, cherries, blue berries, green beans and now corn! We'd feast all winter on the bounties of summer.

So, this August remember your last days of fun before school started and how you survived the heat. Those days were hot, but a lot of fun. Maybe even try and see if that egg really will cook on the hood of your car!

© 2007 RRW