Friday, June 20, 2008

"Hot Town" Friday Five

This week's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is a word-association paen to the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City":


1. rooftop The house of my childhood -- a fieldstone farmhouse that used to be my paternal grandparents' -- had a hip roof. Most of the houses in our neighborhood did. I like them. Although when I was small I had a fascination with A-frames and desperately wanted to live in one. That's about all I have to say about rooftops. Sorry.

2. gritty I associate grit, not with summers in the city, but summers in the country. It's chaff, actually -- when you make hay, even if your role is driving tractor, you get covered in chaff; it goes down your throat and down your shirt collar and gets up your pantlegs. I remember the relief with which I'd head to our shower in the basement and wash off after a day of baling. Oh...and remember Lava soap? Another gritty memory of summers on the farm.

3. hot town(yeah, I know, it's two words) Again, I have associations, not of living in the city, but of my childhood in the country. During the dog days, when the mercury crested above 90, we often fled to our mostly-unfinished, so-called Michigan basement. I also actually enjoyed staying there during heat-generated summer thunderstorms.

4. night One of my favorite things to do on a summer evening is sit on my front porch, or on my back stoop. I love it when darkness falls, where you can actually feel the texture of it against your skin. And I enjoy the sounds and sights of nighttime -- flittering bats and nighthawks and owls and crickets.

5. dance At the risk of saccharine gag inducement out there, I have to share yet another Cute Pet anecdote: Gertie loves to dance. FT dances with her every day; gets her up on her hind legs and waltzes her around to the tune of "Can I Have This Dance (For the Rest of My Life)?" The late Codeman also used to enjoy dog-dancing.

To see a very young John Sebastian singing "Summer in the City," you can go to the RevGalBlogPals website.

6 comments:

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

This was lovely!

Rachel said...

mmmm... feeling the texture of night. gorgeous.

Auntie Knickers said...

Love the dog story. My dog likes to jump, rather than dance (springer spaniel). The night anecdote was great too.

Jeanine Byers said...

Awesome play!

And you reminded me of one of my favorite songs. I've actually sung "Can I Have This Dance?" to my sweetie.

Ivy said...

Our dog Abby loves to dance too. She gets a great rhythm going as she sways her hips.

Processing Counselor said...

I grew up in NE Ohio and we got severe storms and tornado, so we spent plenty of time in the basement, ours and my aunts which was my grandmother house, old house with wine cellar, fruit cellar, etc. Loved the coolness. The after we would have to go out and pull up the fruit trees that had been blown over, with wooden stakes and rope. Good memories. Thanks.