August's First Half

To drop a few items suited to my obsessive chronicling instinct where this blog is concerned, let’s do a look back at what the first half of August wrought. The month began almost on cue with an overdue shift in the weather, as a cold front (well, cool front) pushed aside the prevailing dome of heat and humidity that made July mostly unbearable. That first day offered a glorious early Friday morning coffee sit out on the driveway as the City got its end-of-week start, and downtown strolls those first two days were awesome each evening.

August 1st was also a day to hear a strange low-powered droning, just in time to glance up in the sky directly overhead as a hulking beast eased into obscured view through the trees...

...and then to realize I was getting the treat of a low-flying Goodyear Blimp right above the house.

Late afternoon saw the arrival of daunting storm clouds with a lot of dark and menace, but the small bit of rain it deposited even over its extended stay did little to wet us down all that much.

As the official mark of the passing cold front, though, we took to heart its strong signal that we might at last have a few humane days ahead.

Then we took a definite turn for the worse, where this guy is concerned. The dramatic cool-down was accompanied by an extended period of drear and wet. Although I hit the 5-mile mark on my downtown walk the first August Sunday afternoon, it was in a light drizzle.

Monday was better, with a morning spent offering the opening keynote at a local high school...but then the rest of the week brought out my serious seasonal funk.

I think a particular pooch in the household knew I could benefit from his comforting presence.

Grey, cold, and persistent annoying rains with an all-day/all-night staying power settled over us, and the only relief that Friday brought was that it wasn’t incessantly sprinkling...

...even though we were still stuck in 50 shades of miserable grey.

Granted: the downpours were much heavier and problematic elsewhere in the region and state, so I’m carving out a space for gratefulness. But doggone it: I had gotten started on some of the long-neglected yard tasks and I was stuck in a state of incompletion!

As the opening week of August circled into its concluding weekend, I could celebrate the brief spell of better weather, well-timed to the end of a work week. The Friday evening stroll back on August 8th granted me this cool view of the rising full moon between the former tower HQs for Wachovia and BB&T, respectively.

And let’s hasten to add that the second Sunday of August was particularly gracious to this sun-loving soul, a day for more outside time and some yard work and some extended evening sit time with cicadas and breezes. However, it did begin with a power outage after Duke Energy experienced equipment failure. For roughly 400 of us in this slice of Holly Avenue and West Salem, we had just shy of four hours without electricity.

But with glorious low 70s weather outside, the rare treat of open screened windows in the kitchen took me back to growing up in Buies Creek, and the pooches and I also enjoyed lots of time in the fresh air of our quiet downtown street.

A speedy return to Drear Prison came on Monday the 11th, and rain and mists and fog and low clouds and ugly grey once more settled in for an extended squat. Tuesday was dicey and Wednesday was unbearable, except for the two minutes of sun and blue sky that I was eager to record for posterity:

Let’s end on the positive, though: that rainy grey pattern ultimately petered out and we headed into a weekend with only slight and brief rainy interruptions to the good vibes of late summer. This RoHo dweller, partaking of a brief spell of home vacation time, appreciated that reprieve.