Summer is for swimming!

One sure thing about living on a bayou in the Deep South, it gets HOT!   It is sticky hot..not just the temperature hot..ooey-gooey, sticky hot.  To be honest, though, even with the temperatures being in the mid-nineties during the middle of the day, I have not resorted to air conditioning, yet.  There has been a strong breeze blowing off of the Bay which cools the house by a good ten degrees at least.  Still, there are some of us that need a bit of cooling during the heat of the day.  Mainly..Ms. Ez is feeling the heat and humidity these days.  I am not sure if it is simply that she is getting older or if chasing the squirrels during the middle of the day is taking its toll on the old Bayou Dog.

More oft than not, come noontime, you can find me outside sitting on the bench near the bird feeders. There are two benches here.  They sit facing the Bay and the breeze is unobstructed by any bushes.  Two Black Gum trees and one Live Oak provide plenty of shade during most of the day.  No wonder that this is a favorite resting spot.  Today, Michael and I cut grass.  It took nigh on three hours to do half of the yard with him mowing and me trimming.  Tomorrow..the lower part near the marsh edge will catch a nice cutting!  Once we finished for the day, I resorted to my shady bench to cool down a bit.  Ms. Ez was out by her tree guarding the two squirrels that had scampered to the highest limbs.  Watching her, I realized that she was panting..hard.  Poor old dog!  She was sweltering!  Then a horrid thought..I had yet to fill her pool!  Well now, that had to be remedied at once!  The pool was dragged from its storage spot and filled about halfway to the top.  Ms. Ez looked at me expectantly.  She dared not jump right in just in case this was not for her.  Once she received the "go-ahead", she gleefully leapt into the pool!  The old dog splashed like a pup!  For about thirty minutes she happily splashed about in the cool water.

Suddenly, she spied two squirrels chasing one another about the yard.  The pool was forgotten for the moment and she raced to trap them in the mimosa tree.  There she plopped herself down to keep watch.  This time, I noticed that her breathing was much lighter.  No heavy panting shook her poor body!  She was enjoying the breeze on her wet fur.

Now, the old dog will be fine.  If she gets a bit heated, she knows to jump in that pool.  During the daytime, the water will be there for her..at night, critters from the Bayou will have fresh water to drink.  It seems like this is a win/win situation for everyone dealing with the hot, humid weather of a Bayou life. Me?  I get to watch with a happy heart as all the critters frolic in the cooling water.