In the heat of summer, think cool

I have spent more time outdoors this spring and summer -- on purpose -- than in the last 10 or 15 years put together.

In addition to the usual yard work, which I like, I've been enjoying our patio, which until this year was pretty much a haven for flowers and persistent weeds that thrive on whatever is between the patio bricks.

Several things have combined to lure me outside.

First is the mild weather we had until this week. It hasn't been too hot or humid this summer, if you don't count the first few days of this week. And spring started in February.

Second is the patio fountain. Some day I'll show you a picture of the fountain made from this and that, but mostly rocks collected by our family all over the country. Big rocks. Little rocks. Lots of in-between rocks. Now the rock pile has water. And goldfish.

Third is comfortable seating. We bought a park bench a year or two ago, but we rarely sat in it. Now the park bench decorates the front yard, where no one sits. But the patio is now outfitted with a comfy glider and a couple of well-padded patio chairs.

Fourth is the flowers my wife carefully chooses every spring and helps me tend until the first frost of fall. This year she experimented with a number of new varieties, and the results have been colorful and interesting.

Fifth is Miss Kitty, who is settling into a life of luxury and pampering at the Sullivan household. With the pet door into the garage, the place where we park cars is now Miss Kitty's domain. And the patio is hers too. She loves to be rocked in the glider, quickly falling asleep on her back with her paws flailing through whatever it is she dreams about.

So it has become customary -- an expected event -- for me to spend some time with Miss Kitty in the late afternoon and early evening on the patio. We've become accustomed to the bees behind the glider in the hedge. We've appreciated the fact that the mosquitoes haven't ganged up on us. Yet.

As a matter of fact, I can't think of a better way to spend some quiet, lazy time than sitting the glider on the patio with an affectionate cat watching the clouds float by.

All was well until the blistering, soggy heat struck last Sunday. Even when the sun was going down it was simply too hot to be on the shaded patio. The cat looked at me sitting in the glider and inviting her to join me. She looked out of the corners of her eyes, which is a sign she thinks humans probably don't belong at the top of the food chain if they're willing to sit in pools of their own sweat.

Have I told you how smart Miss Kitty is?

Sitting on the patio this week has reminded me of my youth on the farm in the 1950s B.A.C. -- that's Before Air Conditioning.

I remember when shade -- any shade -- provided immediate and welcome relief.

I remember when cold water from a deep well could quench any thirst. No need for carbonation or sugar or ice cubes. Just a big dipper of water is all it took to charge you up for another load of baled hay.

I remember when even the slightest breeze chilled your sweat-covered body, which is why fans were so highly prized.

Today, the patio offers shade. The water comes from a filtered dispenser in the refrigerator door. And the breeze that makes sitting outside tolerable is just inside the family-room door where artificially chilled air awaits.

Summer, folks, is only as good as you make it.

R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.