This summer has been one of the hottest summers in recent memory. The last time it was this hot it was about 2011. We had over 2 weeks of temperatures over 110 F. It’s so hot this summer it’s oppressive. It’s insulting. It’s miserable.
One afternoon, a scorcher early in September, which is usually our hottest month (and by then you’re fagged out -by the heat anyhow), I set out for the plantation. The heat lay coiled and shimmering on the road. When you looked at anything through it, it was like looking through a defective pane of glass. The dirt road was so hot that it burned even through my calloused feet and as I walked clouds of dust rose in front of me and mixed with the shimmying of the heat.
-Poor Little Saturday by Madeline L’Engle
It”s hard to get into a Halloween/Spooky season mood when the a/c is working overtime! There is a special genre of horror called hot gothic (ugh, sounds like Hot Topic lol). I’ve been trying to put myself in a fall mood, but I’m too sweaty! Ha! Basically any southern horror that takes place in the summertime is hot gothic- I suppose that is why its my favorite. Plenty of books, movies and stories in this genre for sure. Here are a few off the top of my head:
Heat by Joyce Carol Oates
Poor Little Saturday by Madeline L”Engle
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
All first-rate stories. Finally, the weather started to break- slowly. The nights got colder first and the big pecan tree now shaded our pool so unfortunately it did not stay warm. This was a goodbye.
The pool was done and my last day to swim was September 12. Last year I went another week and a half, but I ended up getting an ear infection from super cold water. Plus I learned a lot about cold water swimming. Mostly that a short dip is fine, but otherwise it’s not real safe. Water is much, much denser than air and it causes major changes to your vascular system when it’s cold. My muscles didn’t work as well and I couldn’t hold my breath as long in the cold water last year and that was why!
Now that the pool was closed I was trying to get ready to go to a workshop out of town, but as soon as I got back…
It was Halloween decorating time!
The Kitchen
I like to start here, the loveliest, coziest, best kitchen I’ve ever had. It’s easy to make it look good in all seasons!
The Dining Room
It’s always fun to decorate in here. It’s such a showpiece of a room in this house!
The Front Hall
This is such a large space in this house and it has many lovely nooks and crannies to fill with fun!
The most fun is decorating the inglenook! Fireplaces and mantels are such fun.
Glow-In-The-Dark Inglenook
We have blacklights plugged in under the ceiling and they make everything glow. This is my absolute favorite thing we do! Every year I look for more new little glowy things to add to it!
I kept the Library and the Living Room pretty much as normal. I needed a year when I didn’t go all-out. The rest of the house is normal too.
I love this time of year. I know I’ve written this before, but the coming holidays all feel like favorite record albums stacked up and ready to play. I come back to that analogy again and again. Soon it will be time to put the lights in the windows, time to roast a turkey, time to do the maintenance on our vintage stove, time to bring up the Christmas tree, time to set the table, time to bake cookies, start new calendars, and plan birthday cakes.
I have a lot of posts coming! Let’s get our records stacked and ready!
With cooler temps to you from some other northern place,
-Jaime
