Wednesday, July 8, 2009

thoughts on summer


When our friends came on the 4th, the first thing one of them said
was, "It's COLD!" Now, I was happy as a lark, in what I considered,
the glorious 79 degree afternoon. The cooler temps and gentle breeze
was a delightful holiday gift from Mother Earth. HTM, (that's
"heavens to murgatroyd", in case you are new to the manor) I hate
to sweat.

Summer is good, but it's my least favorite of all the seasons. Don't get
me wrong; I adore the variety of seasonal changes. I would be totally
bored in a temperate climate. But, the heat and humidity of
midwestern summers make me sluggish and unmotivated. I'm not
one who relishes a long hot run on the sweltering pavement in the
90 degree temps. I was born in October, and I don't know whether
this has any bearing on the fact, but I am totally in my element in
the fall. The crisp cold air rolling down from the north, the vibrant
reds and golds awake my creative juices, and smack this hot,
dormant body into reality. I am already craving wool sweaters,
fireplaces and raking leaves.

Come to think of it, this person who was so cold last weekend, has a
summer birth date. She loves sun, heat and can't wait to retire in
Florida. I would be happy to retire right here at Willow Manor. But,
if I had to choose another spot in the wide, wide world, it would have
to be somewhere farther north.



It's good, but not my favorite.

Johnny Depp, Chocolat


photo: Icewater, by willow

69 comments:

  1. Willow, love the new look of your blog. You had a cool 79? It would be a heat wave for us. We had a warm 65 with cool breezes too. You'd love the Northwest.

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  2. What an interesting blog! I love the look as lakeviewer said above! I also love your H.D.T. quote. I would love to add one another as followers to help increase traffic to both of our sites and to network! Just let me know OR add me and I will then add you as well! Have a lovely day!:)

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  3. Like you Willow I love the cooler temperatures (although I was born in the summer). It is very hot here at the moment and I am already imagining the autumn, xv.

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  4. hey willow - i'm with you. i run, i bike and i love the days when it's slightly overcast or even mostly sunny but not too much more than twenty - twenty four celsius. i was born in august so you'd think hey. that boy'll love the heat! but this boy was born in england and if i;'m out working up a sweat for whatever reason, i love plenty of the grey scale with tickles of colour thankyou very much!!! i live in ontario now and for the last two summers it's been cooler and wetter than normal. booooo says my sun-worshipping october born wife. hurray says i!!! have a peaceful day. steven

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  5. 80 degrees here in AK, have to go further north for cooler temps.

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  6. Completely agree with you about the weather. My son complained that at 77 degrees he had to have air conditioning. Youth knoweth not the cost etc., etc..
    As for J Depp, he was never more adorable than imitating Chaplin with the bread rolls stuck on two forks in "Benny and June".

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  7. Willow....been vacationing in New York....loved the weather...temps in the low 70s daytime and nights even cooler...thought I'd died and went to Heaven...We're back home now... and I hate to sweat also....Let me just say....I am pea green with envy of your weather girl! Dee Dee

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  8. I couldn't agree with you more. Fall is my favorite, I am so so bored living here in Southern California where the seasons never change- there's only the hot season and hotter season. I have Massachusetts blood running through my veins for sure. Well, I just love your new Willow Manor headline picture! How did you do that?? Have a wonderful day! :)

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  9. I am in total agreement with you. Heat and humidity are no friends to me. For years I had migraines and they were always worse in the heat.

    The colder the better, for both Edward and me!!

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  10. 79º? Pffft, that's not summer. Or if it is then we need a fifth season for what we get in July and August. Actually we're having one of the coolest days in about a month (finally got some rain last night and this morning). It's only 90º in the shade here today.

    I don't like being cold though. Snow and ice and sharp wind hold no joy for me.

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  11. I was born in Juky and don't mind the heat all that much. But the best place and time in the world is New England in September.

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  12. love the new header...who do you get to do such marvelous things. wish i was as talented.

    fall is my fav...born in august, so maybe you are onto something...

    98 today...abysmal!

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  13. I like snow. Snow and Ice. It shuts up the world. AHHHHH the quiet of winter. Summer is a riot.

    But I am a December baby, so who knows?

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  14. I'm with you! Summer is far from favorite time of the year for me. I always say that during the Greek summer you can un-dress all you want and you'll still feel HOT! But during the winter, put on some clothes and your OK!

    Have a great day!
    xoxo

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  15. It's interesting-- I'm all for temperate-- I was born in September; who knows? I found the California coast climate just about perfect. In this part of Idaho things go to extremes: very hot in the summer & pretty doggoned cold in the winter. I love it here for a lot of reasons, but I still long for the coast!

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  16. i love all the seasons except winter but fall is my favorite! any cool summer day that has a nice cool breeze will have me wistfully exclaiming "it feels like fall".

    i've missed reading your blog for a few days and am so admiring your new header!! loving it! and your ice water photo is wonderful as well. you certainly have not lost your creativity at all!!

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  17. Hazy, hot, and humid are three of my least favorite words. Alas, so is air-conditioning (that really is too cold!). I'll suffer summer gladly if I can keep the other three. Interesting new header.

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  18. I'm with you - give me the cooler days of autumn and winter. I have more energy and hate the humidity that often comes with the heat. I'm born in Jan. and adore winter, but I come from the Great White North.

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  19. I am so with you.

    And I live in the desert.

    Ugh.

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  20. I'm with you - heat and humidity don't do me any favors. I love Fall as well, but I also adore Winter. I'm a definite snow freak. I was moderately happy with this past Winter here on the Atlantic coast.

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  21. Roy, I adore the winter, as well. The more snow the better. Bring on those frosted window panes!

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  22. I was liking summer until this aging body stopped looking so cute in the shorts and sleevless tops. So now it's forever fall and spring for me!

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  23. this place is getting too slick!!
    i can't get over the banner and everything else.
    beautiful.
    xx

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  24. Ice water -- we had some lemonade the other day with ice and it was out of this world -- good. Maybe there is something to this October birth thing. My wife and I both celebrate October birthdays and they (I don't remember who) said something like, "Two people born in the same month can't possible live together for very long." And, they added, "You are both Scorpios." Not sure what that meant but we have been together for 54 years come July 12th. My sister told my then new wife, not to get pregnant as she knew I would run out on her. LOL

    Can you imagine that? My oldest three are 53, 52, 51 and 47 and 36. Still here. Never did run. I don't know how relatives can come up with their advice.

    I hate winter. Fall is OK.

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  25. And don't forget that beautiful HUMIDITY of summer. And bugs. We've been hit with rain since spring, and severe thunderstorms this past week. I'd take a cold winter and snow over the heat, damp and violence of summer anytime.

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  26. Joanne, yes, the VIOLENCE of mosquitos! I am itching like crazy from July 4th!!

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  27. I love variety, too--I liked summer best when I was a kid and spent it jumping in and out of pools the entire time. (come to think of it, no wonder we were skinny and could eat whatever the heck we wanted to, back then!) Love the new header, Willow! Great look.

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  28. My thoughts exactly! I have loved this unseasonably cool first month of summer! And fall is my favorite, too....with my birthday being the first day of fall! :)

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  29. I'm so with you on this!!! It's been unbearably hot here. Truly! Hmmmm...I'm a late September baby....

    Hey! And I love your new look, Willow!

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  30. When we moved to the deep south, everyone remarked on how we would have to get used to the heat and humidity. Ha! said I. The midwest gets plenty of heat and humidity. What they didn't understand is that the midwest has both extremes - the hot and the cold.

    I'm an October baby, too. I've decided that I like something in each season and I crave what's missing no matter what season I'm in. Fickle. Yep.

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  31. Thanks willow. it great idea about summer time. I don't find this weather on my country. just only dry and rainy season. See you on my blog. I hope we can share some information.

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  32. Great new header! I'm glad you liked the book. I'd love to see a Willow review! I prefer fall too, and I was born in late September. The quote from Chocolat was perfect.

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  33. Just like the other 32 commentators (ok I didn't really read all of them, I'm jsut assuming) but autumn is by far my favorite season. I love the smell, the crisp cool air, snuggling with my husband...hate the leaves in the pool...

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  34. I guess I'm in the minority. But that's okay! Bring on the heat, I can take it! :)

    Fabbo new header, Willow.

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  35. Autumn is by far my favorite season...but I wouldn't appreciate it as much if it didn't follow a nasty, hot and humid summer! I really adore all four seasons...

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  36. Fall is still my favorite time of year, especially here in upstate NY, where the blankets of color can be so beautiful. That said, I'll still take a hot summer over a brutally cold winter.

    It's been the same basic temps here as you are describing, and that is fine by me. Having grown up in NYC, the humidity of an urban summer is not something I miss. I have vivid memories of the long hot summer of 1979, traveling to work from the Bronx to Brooklyn by subway, with no air conditioning in the subway car.
    It was not unusual for straphangers, myself included, to ride between the cars in order to get some relief from the rolling underground steam bath.

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  37. I don't know about your theory - my best friend has an Oct B-day too and she freezes as soon as it goes below 80 degrees - obviously she doesn't stay here for the winter - may I say, you have the best header I've seen! extremely cool!

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  38. Your new header image is very witty! :-)

    I know what you are talking about, the sweltering heat robs the body of its energy and the brain of creativity. The best summer days in Washington DC were always those that brought a cooler air mass from the north, spoiling us with dry heat to revel in! I was looking forward to escape humid summers in Vienna, but what happens this year? Sub-tropical weather conditions, every day several hours of heavy rains, and when the sun does come out the humidity is so high, I am tempted to call the local news to report that I feel as if I were not living on the banks of the Danube but the Potomac river!

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  39. Autumn is my all-time favourite but I love winter too... born in January and raised in Montreal so winter was like second nature (no pun intended) to me.

    Don't like to sweat
    Don't like to drip
    Give me some shade
    And lemonade to sip

    In front of a fire
    I'd rather be
    With toasty toes
    And a cup o' tea

    So bring on winter
    The cold and snow
    Can't take the heat
    To the North I go!

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  40. Same here, same here. I was born in autumn and that's why it's my favourite season. Yes, your'e right, a nice breeze running through the house in summertime is more bearable than the temperatures we had in London last week.

    Your new header is fantastic.

    Greetings from London.

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  41. Hi Willow,I love the new look of your blog!The picture is really cool.Yes me too,summer isn't my favorite,I prefer the beginning of spring and a bit autumn(sometimes cause it's a bit sad I think)but when winter is ending and spring begins i just love it!Perhaps is it new stars that I like!

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  42. We have been having some wonderful weather, too Willow. Low humidity. What a difference it makes!

    I am a March baby and I do not like the cold. Actually, I love the cold but I want to be inside with a fire going. And I want my house to be warm. Working for the newspaper means I have to do a lot of shooting in all kinds of weather. Give me a tropical day any day of the week.

    However, I do love New England. I could trade a diet of crabs for a diet of Lobster, but only in the fall.

    I love your new banner. How clever.

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  43. I am with you.

    I have long said the heat in summer makes it my least favorite season, and that I love winter - people often look at me like I'm nuts.

    however, I don't know if there is any association of what season one prefers with birth month or birth place - I have a summer (july) birthday and spent my entire childhood in warm climates but as soon as I started having control over my life - I have been fleeing commitment to hot places....

    to me 75 is about as warm as I like to go....but snow, yeah bring it on!

    you stay cool!

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  44. Hello Willow,

    Not sure about this birth/season theory. I'm November and hate to feel cold but don't like too much heat either!! Having worked in the Middle East I know what humidity is like too. Not sure who enjoys perfect weather!

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  45. Hmmmm...you may have something there, Willow. I prefer the cold ( having been born in November, with a raging blizzard outside ). Give me a the nice dry climes of the desert regions or the coolness of the upper mountain ranges...

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  46. I love the springtime and the fall, but the springtime most of all for all the promise it holds. I live in the Netherlands and we don't have real hot summers, so I'm okay with that. Today it is cool and raining. I like it. I get to wear enough clothes, if you know what I mean, more than a summer dress. I was born in September, which is a good month, but too close to the winter, which I am less fond of. No snow and ice for me, please.

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  47. I have a spring birthday and thatis my favourite season.

    Strange that!

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  48. Willow, you are so clever. I love your new header! I stand in awe before it. I was also born in October (27) and I HATE summer. This almost makes me un-Australian as nearly everybody I know loves the sun. Give me cold, wind, hail, fog, snow, sleet, frost and I am jolly. xx

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  49. Its 90 plus constant humidity here so 79 sounds divine. haha. Summer is such a great time of year.

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  50. Love your new banner!

    All I can say is, now is not the time to visit Japan!
    Hot and humid!

    Hope you are having a great week!

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  51. 1st love the title, you are sooo talented and creative.
    2nd we are as opposite as can be, I do not like cold, hate wearing a coat,I can't move in them. I prefer to sweat any day than be cold - go NC
    3rd - loved the movie Chocolat

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  52. Hey Madame Willow,trying to catch up with everyone! I was born on September 22nd which except for leap years is usually the first day of fall. I am truly at my best in the fall. Creativity flows, I feel alive and energetic, so yes, I truly think your time of birth affects your preference of seasons!

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  53. I was born in November - in California - & I enjoy summer. You can have fall. I have never understood why so many people prefer this time of year when everything is dying. My favorite season: spring!

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  54. I dont mind heat or cold but I do not want rain .. do not like rain ... it never rains where its needed .. I think rain is a male element

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  55. Willow, I think that your headers are wonderful. How do you incorporate your piccy in there? I I am SO not a techy. My msn home page changed to a brazilian msn and I can't figure out how to get it back to the english version!

    I was born in England in March. I do not like the cold and live in California with my husband where it doesn't get cold at all. I am crazy enough to even like the humidity of the south.

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  56. I loved the hot summers of my youth. My sweat dripping off my body onto a tennis court.

    Presently though, I prefer the fall or spring. Good thing the summers aren't year round..whew!

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  57. Willow--Thanks for visiting my blog. I, too, love your header and totally agree with you about the heat: I don't much like it either. And, Lakeviewer is right: you'd love the Northwest because of all the moisture, greenery, and cool temps. We just got back for the San Juan Islands and it was spectacular. I would love to live there and just might consider it some day. I wonder if island living is confining or not...some day I just might have to find out.

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  58. Agree willow - I was born in October and I prefer the cooler weather of Autumn too.

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  59. Sister, I could not agree with you more!!! I was born in September, and my birthday usually falls on the first day of autumn, which is the most divine season imaginable!!! Give me 50-60 degree weather any day, and I'm happy! Now you went and got me in the mood for fall! Love the Johnny Depp quote! ~Lori

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  60. I think this is the 1st time I can not agree with you, Willow! Lol! I simply love summer and could live all my life far away from the cold... I live in a place with mild short winters (I know, I know...), but even so I wouldn't mind having none! :-)
    Love your shot!

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  61. I feel exactly the same, willow. I have curly hair that hangs listlessly in a frizz during these heavy humid days and I'm looking forward to September

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  62. No heat, please! We left our native Florida in 1975 for the cool mountains of NC and are delighted to be having lovely cool weather in July. It's not always that way!

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  63. I hear you! You have no idea how much I miss the dry Portuguese summer weather and cool breezes from the sea. High temperatures and humidity leave me out of breath!

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  64. I have to say I do love very hot weather - even humid! It's been very hot here for the last few days - so warm I've not had to use my hot-water-bottle!

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  65. I rarely leave a comment becouse you always have a million by the time I get here but today just rang to true to my heart as well. I'm a Mn girl and summer is also my least favorite ( I just melt into a worthless mess) and autumn is the best. I was born in November. Maybe something to your questionabout birth and seasons.

    Bring on the cold!

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  66. come on up to N.H. You'll freeze your ass off!

    Our summer is non-existent, thus far. Rained all June and the first week in July. Today it's maybe in the high sixties, mixed clouds & sun. I loathe humidity, had enough of that in Virginia. But, I'll take it over THIS!

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  67. I'm so with you, further north the better as far as I am concerned wihen it comes to long hot summers.

    "I'm not one who relishes a long hot run on the sweltering pavement in the
    90 degree temps"
    --Does anyone truly?

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  68. Hi Willow,
    I have been catching up on your posts. Loved the one about the ghosts.... I had to respond to this one though. I was born this month on the 28th. But I hate hot weather too. I love the fall and winter. Like you, I look forward to them all summer. Maybe my parents fooled me and I was really born in November or January.... I sure do not act like a child of July....

    keep up the blogging... it's great

    Ron

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  69. I think I know this someone. :)

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)