JWG's Experimental Eccentric — July 11 & 12, 2011

Zwerglipatch  July 11, 2011  6:29 p.m. EDT

As René heats up some pea soup made by our neighbor Linda, I, at last, am taking the time to scribble a few words. I shan’t write a great deal about this steamy weather that we are all wishing away so we can be comfortable outside.

Today, I thought about the characters from my hometown of Hancock, New Hampshire. Which ones shall I share? Which shall make their way into these pages? Life in a small town is colorful. Life in any neighborhood is colorful. The novel Peyton Place was based on a New Hampshire town. Growing up, I heard, constantly, the expression “just like Peyton Place”. In junior high, when I read Peyton Place, the characters and situations did not dismay me. I knew those characters. I lived in my own Peyton Place.

Zwerglipatch  July 12, 2011  6:54 a.m. EDT

Gracious, when one gets out of bed at five and the day is muggy, one does minimal work in the gardens. Thank goodness that the sun is shielded by a layer of thin clouds. I feel like a clam pulled out of a warm tidal pool.

I spoke too soon. The sun has burned a hole in the clouds. Its heat is felt. Young trees wilt. (I’ve already wilted.)

I think back on past summer days which were hotter than hot.

As a youngster, I’d get on my bike and go uptown to swim; or, I’d go and lie on the moss-covered railroad track by the brook.

As a twenty-something, I would head to the Manhattan piers where the Hudson River always had a breeze to cool hot heads. Those were happy days, too.