Hold the politics ‘cos 2019 summer’s on, with a little something for everyone
I know that global warming concept is more than that. After all that scientific data, heat waves across North America and Europe, deluges and floods, hurricanes, cyclones, tornados and other abnormal weather phenomena, that’s ample evidence that as far as weather goes something is happening. Weather phenomena have become the norm according to meteorologists; see it as the “new normal.”
Close to home, the very cold winter and tumultuous weather we experienced
last winter, especially the leftover cold weather coupled with millimeters of freezing rain to close it out the winter and spring couldn’t pass soon enough.
I was a casualty of the streets we pay taxes to maintain year-round, to make safe for walking, especially in wintertime. (The aforementioned freezing rain and resulting slippery streets and sidewalks were, as you well know, “a b***h.” I can attest to that.)
Here’s what happened one evening in early March, walking home on one of two icy streets leading to my home. Given the conditions I was trekking lightly. After checking carefully for a safe place to step off the icy and slippery street on to what I thought would be a safe sidewalk, I stepped on what I thought was a safe spot and was down, literally banging my chin. After recovering from the thud and shock (of the fall) I got up and felt my chin. The next day I was sporting a bruised and fat, albeit tolerable painful chin. Nothing broken, except my wallet after visiting my dentist a few days after to repair a cracked tooth and ruptured filling.
As a property taxpayer I did what I had a right to do: filed a report with the ville de montreal, like thousands of others, to assume responsibility for the incident, based on the state of the streets and sidewalks. The upshot? Essentially, “we’re not responsible. Dig a little deeper into your wallet.”
All I can say is “fuddle” the city for deciding…
And so the hell with winter 2018-19, summer’s on.
There was a time, long ago when I used to dread summer, especially those lazy, hazy, crazy…
Actually, summer for me arrived that first day the thermometer hit 20 degrees C. and beyond and I can feel the sun… a sweat… what I refer to as ‘summer tease’ days.
As I see it, once late April comes around it also brings on summer feelings, summer preview days as I call them when people start talking “it’s so hot, too hot…” It’s because bodies are reacting to the shock of summer.
And then May comes around and the heat gradually builds, and people begin to talk summer; soon Nat King Cole will start singing, “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer.”
So who’s complaining? Not me. I remember the first three months of the year, especially that one when I busted my chin on the sidewalk. I didn’t need to call the police or ambulance, so…
Of course, I know Mother Nature can be temperamental at times, and it especially so the first three months of 2019, but April came and things soon got back to normal.
Right now I’m embracing summer; it’s on. And I’m thinking of summertime songs I used to enjoy way back when. Big Brother and the Holding Company (ft. Janis Joplin’s) version of Summertime, as well as Billy Stewart’s version (I saw him at a show in at a Yonge St. venue in Toronto in the late 60s or early 70s). A crazy fun song In the Summertime by one Mungo Jerry, The Lovin’ Spoonful’s summer song, Sly and the Family Stone
Hot Fun In The Summertime… you get my drift.
I truly enjoy those ‘back in the day’ summer songs. The bring back memories of some real fun times…
So as this season unfolds, I will continue to do all that I can to enjoy the season. As I say to people if the sun gets too hot, and the humidity too high, finding refuge is always is close proximity. And one thing we don’t need to worry about is slipping on an icy city street or sidewalk.
It’s Montreal summer, so bring it on. Until September, or whenever I stop sweating…
