After multiple rainstorms yesterday, there was no need to water, so when I went to bed I figured walking this morning was a shoe-in. I awoke to my alarm, set to its usual 5:00 a.m., and wearing my headphones, while curled up in bed, I listened to the first news of the day. The 5:08 a.m. weather report was already touting this afternoon’s heat index and of course the meteorologist mentioned the current stats too: 77 degrees, hazy with 90% humidity. No thank you – I’ll take a rain check on that walk, if you’ll pardon the pun. So, alas, despite my good intentions, I decided to remove the headphones, punch up my pillow, then snuggle down and get in a couple more hours of beauty sleep. Ahhhh, what a luxury. I felt like a princess. But after all it is Summer and as Nat King Cole croons in “Those Lazy-Crazy-Hazy Days of Summer” why not take his good advice and have a lazy day? It is already hazy, so why not ease into your morning with some sloth-like activity, like getting in some ZZZZZZZZZZZZs? Later in the day I was thinking about ol’ Nat extolling the virtues of Summer, so I clicked over to YouTube to hear the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoLogdbVS3U) (of course it has been playing in my head every since). As to the crazy aspect of the song’s title, I recall a neighbor several decades ago who annually celebrated Christmas in July. At the tail end of June, he decorated his house and yard with the identical ornaments and lights that he used during the real holiday season. How amusing it was to look across the street on a scorching Summer day and see Santa and his eight reindeer up on the rooftop, seemingly endless strings of lights, garlands galore, and even a full-sized decorated Christmas tree peeking through the front room sheers. Crazy Joe, as the neighbors fondly referred to him, then hosted a party every Independence Day and guests’ cars would line up and down the entire block and nearby cross-streets. Friends would arrive wearing shorts and t-shirts or tank tops and carrying Christmas presents, adult beverages and something to pass. Joe and his wife Delores, dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus respectively, would greet each guest with a big bear hug, then pose with each one in the front yard next to a life-sized snowman which sat atop a pile of fake snow. They’d hoot and holler ‘til the wee hours of the morn and there were plenty of firecrackers as well. The day after the annual “Christmas in July” gig, the decorations were torn down and stowed away until Thanksgiving. Different maybe, but it seemed a good time was had by all. Words to govern your life by:

“Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.” – Dale Carnegie