The Big DumpTruck

Yesterday (Saturday) we spent the day in Rockport with Uncles Crank and Ron. We sort of chose Rockport thinking that it might be cooler on the coast. Okay, hoping it would be cooler on the coast. It unfortunately was not cooler on the coast. There wasn’t even a breeze. Many quarts of sweat were lost yesterday.

We rented a minivan so that we’d be able to fit all 7 people in one vehicle. I have to pass along the advice that if you want a decent minivan from a company you’ve heard of, plan for the rental early. Don’t wait until the last minute. We had a 2001 Windstar and the air conditioning could have used a recharge or something. It wasn’t the best ride I’ve ever had, especially when we were used to our old Sienna.

Here are a couple of shots showing why 15 billion people (and us) chose to go to Rockport yesterday.

I keep forgetting to tell you guys about something I saw that made me laugh like a madwoman. So now that I’ve remembered, I’ll tell you!

About a week ago we were driving on Route 12 in Leominster, past a car wash. All the lovely car owners were getting the pollen, etc. off their cars, vacuuming them out, etc. There was a big shiny clean SUV parked by the vacuums…with a pigeon walking around on the roof. I don’t know, maybe I’m evil, but that just set me off and I laughed for the next mile or two. I wish I’d had my camera, because boy, there are days when I feel like that SUV owner.

Let’s see, not much else. I applied for an Accuweather thingy so that I can put their weather report right on my site (over on the right somewhere, I suppose) so that I don’t have to always go to their site right away. As for Sunday’s forecast, Accuweather.com says 86 (but it will feel like 92) and Yahoo/Weather.com says 87. Just to keep you up-to-date.

Oh, and we picked strawberry #2 last night. I didn’t get any. There are two more just about ready, and one of them has my name on it.

I’m trying to make plans for the next few days, and I’m not happy with the weather. 88 and humid today? Fantastic. Great. I have another baseball game to attend, that should be pleasant.

The one that is killing me is Sunday: last night Yahoo’s weather said it was going to be 97 and humid. See, that’s the kind of weather that makes me want to mail myself to Alaska. But now Accuweather says 89, and Yahoo (pulled from the Weather.com, I believe) says 82. That’s a 15 degree drop in the forecast in only 12 hours. And lets face it, 82 sounds a LOT better than 89, doesn’t it? So do I pick Yahoo’s forecast and hope for 82, or Accuweather? Or do I not forget that last night the number 97 was being thrown around?

I guess no matter what, I’m wearing shorts Sunday, so hide all the small children and wear protective eye gear for the glare.

This is not in response to any particular blog meme going around (you know I try to stay away from those. I also try to stay away from calling my site a blog; a blog is just one aspect of my site.) I just decided to try to come up with a list of my favorite summer songs. These can be songs that have summer involved in the lyrics, title, or maybe were released in the summer. Basically, the guideline for this list is “does the song remind me of summer” and “do I like the song for that reason”. Very objective, no?

So here goes. I know you’ll all feel free to toss in your own two cents via the comments. I reserve the right to steal stuff from your lists and add them to mine.

• Sunglasses at Night
• Black Cars
• Anything from the Loggins and Messina Full Sail album, for example, Junkanoo Holiday
• Smooth (Santana)
• Fascination (okay, this is probably only applicable to me, I’m sure. It dates to the summer I worked at Whalom and they had a game called Fascination)
• Let ‘Em In (ditto. Whenever I hear this song I am transported back to my neighbor’s back yard and swimming in their pool)
• Copacobana (we used to choreograph this song in my parent’s screenhouse)
• Afternoon Delight (Girl Scout camp, one of the older girls in my tent LOVED this song)
• Summer Breeze (actually, anything by Seals and Crofts. Funnily, if you click on the Full Sail link above, the Amazon site lists other items purchased by people who bought Full Sail, and Seals and Crofts Greatest Hits is listed.)
• Hot Hot Hot
• Anything on the Kenny Loggins Leap of Faith cd
• Anything on History: America’s Greatest Hits, for instance, Ventura Highway
• Nights on Broadway (Bee Gees. Dang, now I need to go get that on iTunes)
• Philadelphia Freedom (reminds me of eating maple walnut ice cream at MB’s house)