Mid-year, solstice, heat dome

This morning on our ramble we encountered a few of the night creatures wrapping up their work. We had set out earlier than usual due to the heat and some of the raccoons weren’t done raiding trash cans. I was afraid the first group may have recognized me from the great flat cat roundup (June ends with this) as I got a good hard stare as we walked on the other side of the street. A mile away another raccoon was clearing the road as we came around a corner. There has not been a flat cat sighting in my yard for a long time now though we do occasionally see a shuffle hustle happening around some of the lawns we pass. I haven’t had my yard cam out in quite a while, so it may be time to take a night view soon.

I am happy to report that the fledglings I see belong to the correct species. I didn’t have my birdfeeders out too much this spring and that has led to only one sighting of cowbirds. Over the past few weeks as the blueberries were ripening the sparrows gathered to pick at them, but the youngsters were also waiting for their parents to bring them something better.

And I have been waiting for cicadas. There have been sightings (one or two) and some noises occasionally but nothing as wonderous as most years when the annual brood comes about. Last night I heard a quick song and then silence. I really wanted to hear the millions.

Tuesday night I rewatched The Big Chill. It came out in 1983 and concerns a group of college friends gathering for the funeral of their friend, Alex, who has taken his own life. I can’t say how many times we watched this film when I was stationed in Naples. Sometimes just a couple of us, playing Trivial Pursuit or Monopoly while it was on, sometimes our whole clique. We’d all been there a couple of years, working together, living in the barracks, exploring the world. I suppose the movie spoke to us in a way that people who spend so much time together as friends would. I don’t remember the last time I saw it, most of it fell back into place in my memory except for how very young the actors seem now: Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Mary Kay Place, Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum, JoBeth Williams, and a very, very (one more very) young Meg Tilley. Originally Kevin Costner was in the film as Alex, in flashbacks, but he did not make the final cut. The film held up, in a tight Hollywood bow of a story. It could use a little more cynicism and mess, but at the time seemed earnest and real. Apparently, a lot was written about the movie a year ago as it celebrated its 40th anniversary. I missed all that.

And because Jerry was up in North Dakota, and I could watch a movie without characters running and screaming away from giant creatures, I followed it up with The Birdcage as a palate cleanser. Nothing makes me laugh harder than Nathan Lane as Albert (dressed as Mrs. Coleman/Goldman) telling the ultra-conservative future in-laws during a discussion about abortion that the solution is to “kill the mothers”. Plus, is there anything better than Gene Hackman in drag? Another movie that was of its time perhaps. Adapted from the French La Cage aux Folles, fun to watch but… But.

Well, here we are mid-year, solstice, under the heat dome, we had solar installed in December and we are making power like crazy. Enough for us and the rest goes back to the grid. Illinois is one of those states that pushes solar whereas across the river in Missouri, I’m not sure they acknowledge the sun as hot. Cheap shot. But I won’t be surprised if they are the next state to call for the Ten Commandments in schools. And I know Louisiana’s law says the font has to be “in a large, easily readable font”, but does it have to be in English? Hmm?

Here's a poem and a couple of random pictures from the movies:

small gifts: the sun
after grief bringing new light
flowers where none
were planted, song when voiceless
earth again alive when you felt
nothing could exist
& then, another
twin butterflies light & tangle
on your arm, their shift
as easy as a quickening child