straw lawn, pretty weed and bike thoughts

This  usually does not happen until late august , well after the sun has had its way with  growing things. So, the weather person was correct and we are having a bit too much sizzle at the moment. Today, tomorrow and two days following. Guess I won't be making banana bread or anything else for that matter. Energy zap! Warm (hotter than hell) weather makes me cranky and i just want to tell the whole world to shut the Eff up- Matt Hancock , British health Minister gets the boot for a kiss- the orange gass is starting his revenge hate tour, the Florida building was reported three years ago for structural failure -there is not enough ice cream on the globe to satisfy my  cranky hot angry  hunger this day. 

I moved everything to the shade, watered it well at sun up- so now they can boil.  Deck soup.

Yesterday before the heat became insane, I walked down to the little street library to drop off a few books. Took photos of the dinosaur plant that never fails to re-emerge after being covered in snow and pruned down to the floor.

 and these lovely weeds with purple flowers that the neighbor decide to shake all around the neighborhood because...pretty. It is pretty for five minutes , then spreads successfully , invades, takes over, and will not die. Dennis thought it was lavender so very carefully transplanted it into the front of the yard where the real lavender provides a bed for the fawn. Um, NO, I tore it out right away. NOT lavender! WEED and not the comfort kind.

These hot summer days take me right back to being a kid. At age six I got a JC Higgins made in England skinny tire  girls bike from Sears. Green. No training wheels, just get on the damn thing and head out! This was the epic , life changing moment of childhood . On my bike all day everyday until it  felt like  my own self with  faster legs, I  conquered the world! Freedom - "come home when it starts to get dark", my mother would say. 

I liked the challenge of "Don't go across the tracks, stay on this side"- of course I went across the tracks ,where the streets were hard  dirt and the feral dogs  chased me , bit my tires and tugged at my pedal pushers.  Horses roamed freely and rattlers  sunned themselves on the side of the road. That was fun!  Way more interesting than our quiet middle class neighborhood with everything measured and trimmed. 

I rode out to the cemetery- I rode up to the park and mountain view, over to the penitentiary, to the fair grounds.  I took it with us when we lived on Snowy range and rode it down to Crows camp- hot sun, burned to a freckled crisp, I rode it on  overgrown logging roads where the bear lived- no fear...at all.  In a state of grace. 

 I kept  and rode my bike until I left for Europe at age 26 and stored it in a friend's shed. Lost my bike to a thief.  Obviously  I still think about it. My parents had no idea what kind of terror  child they had until BIKE!  This is what my bike looked like,(from the interwebs)-pretty basic. I have not had another and the place where I live now is so hilly I would be walking my bike most of the way.  Anyway, those days are OVER. I am left with the best bike memories a girl could want in this life! Thank you Sears and Roebuck. 

 If you are in the hot zone right now, Lie on the floor and dream of your childhood bike and the snakes and bear and feral dogs that you are faster than -  Conquerer of all of the things!