Feelin' groovy...Mother Nature turns up the thermostat...

“Rough, groovy surface” the black letters on the orange, diamond-shaped sign along the highway declared.

A scene from one of my favorite movies came to mind. The scene was in the movie “Field of Dreams.” In the scene, the movie’s main character, played by Kevin Costner, attempts to meet a reclusive writer, played by James Earl Jones. Mr. Jones tries to make his visitor go away, saying something along the line of “You’re from the sixties.” As in the 1960s. As those of you who are a certain age may recall, folks were feelin’ groovy back in the 1960s. We were all about peace, love and some other stuff.

That’s why I thought the sign along the highway was pretty “cool.” Of course, the sign didn’t really say anything about “groovy” surface. That was a figment of my aging imagination. The surface was grooved. I suppose that’s kind of groovy. 

Meanwhile...

We knew it was coming.

We figured its arrival probably would be rather abrupt.

We were right.

After a season of cold weather which seemed like it stretched back to last August or September, we had a bit of an abrupt change. I suppose that’s a good thing...maybe we won’t have to worry about it snowing on July 4th.

Summer-like humidity accompanied some rather warmish temperatures which arrived in our little corner of the world during the past week.

The local weather observer who shares climate observations with the weekly newspaper reported that on the second, third and fourth day of May, the low temperatures were 36...36...37. Such chilly weather just did not seem right.

Well, Mother Nature decided to turn up the thermostat on the sixth, seventh and eighth days of the fifth month of the year. The highs topped out at 82...84 and 85. The warmth was accompanied by the high humidity which we experience quite often in Southern Illinois as spring eases into summer.

I had put my “winter” coat away a couple of weeks ago, thinking it was time to be done with such things. Turned out I was a little bit premature. However, with that being said, once the temperatures climbed into the 80s, I figured we could “officially” be done with the cold.

The sudden onset of warm and humid conditions was quite noticeable when I went on a daily walkabout Monday evening. Even the squirrels seemed to be moving a little bit slower. The hum of air conditioners suggested that folks have moved on in attempt to try to be in comfortable mode.

The warm weather has been good for the grass in our lawn, which really should be mowed more often. Weeds also have been doing very well in The Other Half’s garden. Just wish we could figure out how to eat some of them. 

By the way, Tuesday morning, I headed off to The Paragraph Factory...without a coat...or even a jacket. Seemed rather strange... I also took a different way to work...and skipped an opportunity to experience the groovy surface...

Peace and love, folks...