HOT AND GUMPTIONLESS

That cooler spell was just that – a cooler spell, a suggestion of things to come but not the real thing yet. Now it’s summer again – the hot days and warm nights of August. Anything to be done outside, such as a bike ride or weeding, had best be done before 8:00 a.m. After that, gumption fades.

But – I’ve done some things. Mike said that he could use a bag for his toiletries so that he could pack them more compactly for motorcycle trips. I try to make what he wants so that he knows how much I appreciate the machines. I quickly stitched up a bag out of black cotton (I think it was Halloween fabric) with his brand in orange. And that showed gumption.

This week I assisted at a morning coffee hour, and when I took my crystal pitcher from the shelf, I resolved that I would not put it away again without cleaning the whole shelf. How can items which stay behind a closed door get so dirty? It took a day or two but I finally got the gumption to do the job. I never use the goblets, you know, nor do I want to. They seem so out of place in my life – just taking up space. My mother would be appalled to know that I feel this way.

Still singing the praises of August, we enjoyed a concert on the LCSC campus, a local group called “The Big Newtons” singing songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The campus food service sold lunch at $5.00 a plate. I was impressed when an Asian student handed the cashier a hundred dollar bill. Without blinking an eye, the cashier counted out $95 in change. When I was a student (and it matters little that it was a long time ago), I had very little spending money in my purse.

That contrasted sharply with the experience the evening prior when we attended our community’s annual National Night out against Crime. We bought nutritious hot dogs for our supper, but people manning the booth had no change and were turning away those who couldn’t pay with the exact amount. Luckily we had dollar bills and were served. We attend this event for the interesting exhibits, to watch the goings-on, and -- all right – mostly to pick up freebies that Mike uses for geocache treasures.

“Man it’s hot!” remarks Mike. “It was 30 degrees cooler this morning when I went on my [bike] ride, but I wouldn’t want to be out there now [99 degrees].” He said today’s ride was a real ego-booster for him. As he rode Alpowa Grade on Highway 12, he passed a well-organized cycling tour of 90 or so riders from all over, including eastern states. He felt sorry for those riders, he said. “They were hurting and they hadn’t even got to the hard part.” KW