Scavenging the August Doldrums

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. 

Sam Keen

Here's how uneventful it has been this August. I got nothing to say other than it's still hot and I'm still sweating.

I've had my head buried in books. This month I've laughed my way through Europe with Bill Bryson reading Neither Here Nor There. Had a most interesting discussion with my book club regarding The Submission. Lived in NYC and the Dominican Republic with the wonderful Oscar Wao, and relished the short stories of Edith Pearlman in Honeydew.

I'm currently in Beirut with An Unnecessary Woman.

As for my television watching, Deadliest Catch has concluded their season. Jeopardy is on hiatus. American football has yet to begin (and the Green Bay Packers have lost Jordy Nelson. Sigh.) My next up Netflix disc will begin the third season of The Newsroom and I've received a recommendation for Death in Paradise, a British venture filmed in Guadeloupe that I can stream.

I'm clinging to my hammock, the AC, and the end of summer as long as I can for once Labor Day passes I must resurface and join the world.  Maybe.

This litany of my August actions has thrilled you beyond measure, I'm sure.

Forthwith is my August Scavenger Hunt brought to you by the lovely Greenthumb. Go visit her in Australia at her blog Made with Love

The August List

Walk

Horizontal

Square

Diversity

Rough

Bow

Joy

Forgotten

Crowd

Colourless

Friendly

Whatever I Want

Walk

Guess who I saw on my walk today?

Horizontal

Okay, our fence is still horizontal to the ground. It just has a challenging path.

Square

Nothing like a good old game of Scrabble.

Diversity

You got your purple flowers, your variety of green water plants and your pond scum. Diversity.

Rough

Yup, might be a little rough falling into that.

Bow

I think this magnolia blossom would make a lovely bow.

Joy

End of day and a reprieve from the heat. Time to jump in the lake and float in the moonlight.

Forgotten

Oops...

...forgotten in the fridge.

Crowd

Blues on the Green. Used to be a small affair in Austin, Texas. Few hundred people. This night? Over 30,000.

Colorless

Once upon a time, I would have considered this a colorless photo. But as I gaze at it now, the white, silver, black and varied shades of brown -- colors I used to not consider colors -- are most beautiful.

So, okay  how about this for colorless.

I'm certain some do-gooder French Impressionist or a large-hatted Dutch Master could find color in this. Not me. Although...

Friendly

My duck friend giving me a kiss.

Whatever I Want

Please, Julie? I promise I won't come back for an hour if you give me just a tad more catfood. See, I'm just very gently resting my beak on your leg.

And that is as creative as this August Scavenger can muster. Hope you are all doing well. What have you been reading and watching this summer?

Pot Luck

It takes a long time to grow an old friend.

John Leonard

Wishing a Happy 50th birthday to my long-time friend, Savannah, the Oil Baron. Here we are last Saturday night in Dallas. Vanna and I met playing softball in Denver back in 1981. She pitched and caught. I played short stop. We were both in the oil biz, young, and I was much skinnier.

Happy Birthday Vanna!

Last week, ds, who produces the beautiful blog third-storey window, passed me the award/meme for Honest Scrap. I thank her. Please check out her blog as I label it one of my great finds. Part of the crowd reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier right now.

The award has requirements:

1. “The Honest Scrap” award must be shared.

2. The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves that no one else knows.

3. The recipient has to pass along the award to 10 more bloggers.

4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given this award.

5. Those 10 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.

As appreciative am I of receiving awards, I'm not the best at fulfilling the pass on part. And I hate to follow directions, but will attempt it here on a shorter scale. I'm such an open book, I seriously doubt there are ten true things about me that no one knows.

1. I can waste time better than anyone.
2. I sometimes turn on Fox News just to see if they are thinking.
3. My favorite TV shows are Deadliest Catch and Lost.
4. I can float on my back and meditate, and almost fall asleep.
5. I've been in 49 states. (Washington remains.)
6. I love the morning, but I think that is when I get my best sleep.
7. So far this week I've swum, swam, swimmed 3 miles. (Ruined it all drinking margaritas last night.)
8. I just joined NetFlex and am watching the last two seasons of Six Feet Under. For some reason, funeral homes don't seem so scary anymore.
9. I have a terrible habit of not beginning a book I really want to read as I want to savor each word. Waiting for my hammock, which has eluded me of late.
10. I fart a lot if I eat bread.

There - took way too much to get all that out.

Honest Scrap now awarded to:

128 Sticks of Butter - because she has lost 11 pounds and I haven't
Catbird Scout - who has bravely given up her job to pursue her writing
Ladybird World Mother - who makes me laugh
WZ Snyder, #167 Dad - for always fun posts and providing a different perspective

And an invitation from a couple of friends:

You are cordially invited to attend an "open house" beginning Wednesday, October 14, in honor of the newly renovated Rose &Thorn Journal: http://www.roseandthornjournal.com

Drop by, sign up for the newsletter, check out the new digs (and blog!), follow us on Twitter and Facebook, leave us your comments/thoughts, and wish us well!

Rose &Thorn is a quarterly literary journal featuring the voices of emerging and established authors, poets and artists.

Now...go enjoy the open bar and appetizer spread!

Angie Ledbetter & Kathryn Magendie
Co-Editor/Publishers
Rose & Thorn Journal

Long Wait for Next Year's Catch

The best way to a fisherman's heart is through his fly.

Author Unknown

While trying to figure out what to do for a career, I’ve considered and eliminated many ideas including teaching high school. One other is crab fishing. Although the prospect of that venture fascinates me, reality tells me it shouldn’t be on my list. Reasons? Although I am a multi-tasker, I don't have the ability to withstand a douche by a 40 foot wave while smoking a cigarette, reeling in a 600 pound cage, and swearing in a gravelly voice.

With that in mind, I recall my honeymoon 31 years ago where my husband and I drove from Michigan to Astoria, Oregon and camped along the Pacific Coast highway down to Big Sur. Our first night, we ate at a local hangout for crab fishermen. Many talked about the fished out crab waters of Oregon, Washington, and Canada. How the Alaska waters now promised the crab. When they heard we were just married, a few laughed about how they could get married, head out to sea and by the time they got back, their wives had divorced them and married someone else. The life of the fisherman. They wished us luck.

That encounter must have stayed with me through the years. Last night, the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch completed another season of hauling in King Crab and Ophelias (Opelio. I stand corrected.) I am deeply saddened. No longer will I look forward to Tuesday nights. But I will continue to wonder why I'm hooked on Deadliest Catch and marvel at those who pursue that adventure I don't have the, uh, guts for.

I'd be yakking over the side or lying on the floor of the head more than I'd be sorting the day's catch. Hating the cold, I'd spend hours chopping ice off the ship with snow sleeting in my eyes and waves rushing into the rain suit that covers my body. My mind would certainly wander and I'd fall overboard, get my legs caught in ropes, or get squished by a flying crab pot, ending up in the wheelhouse getting my ass kicked by the crusty ship captain. Tears would not help.

The sea captains are all gruff men who smoke 35 packs of cigarettes a day, bite off the head of a fish to welcome the new season, and swear like a bunch of, well, sailors.

So what’s the attraction? Something about watching that crab catching cage come up over the side of the boat and discovering whether any new inhabitants have joined the bait is an exciting event. Or watching the boats maneuver through the slates of ice or 40 foot waves. I suppose it's a thrill I can experience and not have to worry about suffering any of the consequences. Including having to live with the smell.

Until next April, I’ll watch the reruns and wonder if any of those deckhands are returning to wives married to someone else. Also, if someone can figure out why it fascinates me to vicariously travel with this bunch of wild hooligans and not tire of it, please let me know. Now, back to dusting and crossing off careers. Hmmm.