This posting is a day late because, in addition to other August irritations, add August thunderstorms that can knock out one’s internet connection.
But then, August is always a prickly time for me. Usually I’m trying to finish up one book just as another one is launching so that I have to keep both plots in my head at the same time. The one I turned in almost a year ago is the one my readers want to hear about at current book events, yet the one I’m working on is the one freshest in my mind.
In August, our heat and humidity are starting to get really old and August is when sandspurs pop up on the lawn to make walking barefooted a hazard indoors or out. Outside is obvious, but they sneak in on shoes and pantlegs, which make bare feet indoors a roulette game. The only way to eradicate them is to get a hoe and dig them up one by one before they go to seed. Did I mention August’s hot and humid days? The dogflies, gnats, and mosquitoes of August? Not the most pleasant time to get out and dig.
If I get to heaven, the first thing I’m gonna ask God is, “What were you thinking when you made sandspurs?”
If you could magnify this picture of them, you would see a tiny barb at the tip of each sharp point. As bad as they hurt going in, they hurt worse coming out.
On the other hand, August is also when I get to reconnect directly with so many of my readers. So many of you have written me nice notes about Sand Sharks that it almost makes me forget the heat and humidity and gnats and dogflies.
Not the sandspurs though!
P.S. - My friend, Kaye Barley, invited me to contribute to her blog this week. If you're interested: http://meanderingsandmuses.blogspot.com
