“Now there's a cloud coming up out of the sea, no bigger than a man's hand.”
It may not have been as dramatic as the announcement from Elijah's servant, but there was the obvious portent of a storm on the way.
All day Wednesday, neither Jiggs nor I could find any place comfortable in the house or on the patio. The temperature was not too bad. But the humidity kept increasing -- and there was no breeze. It was the no breeze part that made us restless.
Matthew Pearl was keeping me enthralled with his latest thriller: The Last Dickens. (Classy author. Classy book. I recommend it.) But even Pearl's well-crafted Dickensian sentences were not enough to disguise the fact, in the words of the immortal (but departed, go figure) Cole Porter: "It's Too Darn Hot."
Several of our fellow bloggers have asked what people prepare for dinner during these New Orleans afternoons. For me, the choice was easy.
Years ago I developed a salad recipe that can easily be modified no matter where I am. I slice 3 cucumbers, 3 tomatoes, and an onion as thin as possible. Sprinkle them with basil, tarragon, oregano, and pepper. And douse it all with enough rce vinegar to dampen it. Then I chill it for at least an hour.
Thus:
The nice thing about this salad is that it keeps for a couple of days -- marinating away at the vegetables.
I was eating my dinner while sitting on the balcony just as the sun was going down -- wondering if we would need the air conditioner to fight the humidity tonight.
And then I saw it. Not a cloud "no bigger than a man's hand." But it was an obvious rain squall.
Usually, clouds off to the southwest do not head our way. I look at it longingly -- like another romance that was worth keeping only as it headed out the door.
I should know that being patient n Mexico is not merely a virtue -- it is a life style.
Within the hour, we had high winds, lightning, thunder -- and, best of all, rain. If I had not been working on the computer, I would have gone outside to tango in the rain.
There is a moral in this tale, but it is so obvious that I feel as if I am dealing in doggerel to write it down. So, I won't.
You are all adults. Here is your chance to end one of my tales.
Because, I ain't gonna do it.
--------------------------------
It may not have been as dramatic as the announcement from Elijah's servant, but there was the obvious portent of a storm on the way.
All day Wednesday, neither Jiggs nor I could find any place comfortable in the house or on the patio. The temperature was not too bad. But the humidity kept increasing -- and there was no breeze. It was the no breeze part that made us restless.
Matthew Pearl was keeping me enthralled with his latest thriller: The Last Dickens. (Classy author. Classy book. I recommend it.) But even Pearl's well-crafted Dickensian sentences were not enough to disguise the fact, in the words of the immortal (but departed, go figure) Cole Porter: "It's Too Darn Hot."
Several of our fellow bloggers have asked what people prepare for dinner during these New Orleans afternoons. For me, the choice was easy.
Years ago I developed a salad recipe that can easily be modified no matter where I am. I slice 3 cucumbers, 3 tomatoes, and an onion as thin as possible. Sprinkle them with basil, tarragon, oregano, and pepper. And douse it all with enough rce vinegar to dampen it. Then I chill it for at least an hour.
Thus:
The nice thing about this salad is that it keeps for a couple of days -- marinating away at the vegetables.
I was eating my dinner while sitting on the balcony just as the sun was going down -- wondering if we would need the air conditioner to fight the humidity tonight.
And then I saw it. Not a cloud "no bigger than a man's hand." But it was an obvious rain squall.
Usually, clouds off to the southwest do not head our way. I look at it longingly -- like another romance that was worth keeping only as it headed out the door.
I should know that being patient n Mexico is not merely a virtue -- it is a life style.
Within the hour, we had high winds, lightning, thunder -- and, best of all, rain. If I had not been working on the computer, I would have gone outside to tango in the rain.
There is a moral in this tale, but it is so obvious that I feel as if I am dealing in doggerel to write it down. So, I won't.
You are all adults. Here is your chance to end one of my tales.
Because, I ain't gonna do it.
--------------------------------
