Summer – Everett Leader Herald

Wet enough for you?

Rainiest July since 1921

JULY 12: A woman walks up Broadway with an umbrella as July proves to wet so far. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

The talk about the rain is becoming a downpour among us.

Since the beginning of July, and especially over the July 4 weekend and well into the second week of the month, the rain has been consistent – that is – consistently soaking us from day to day without end.

If this keeps up, meteorologists expect July to be the wettest month on record since 1921.

Massachusetts reservoirs are filled to the top.

Local flooding has become a daily occurrence.

The rain added to our totals by the remnants of the tropical storm that soaked us last week has added to rain misery now afflicting the region.

Canceled fireworks, outside parties, barbecues, and beach and boating excursions over the Fourth of July put a real damper on the summer, which has been either incredibly hot and humid and uncomfortable or frankly, pissing rain from day to day without end.

Summer doldrums 2021

Beat the heat with a dip in the DCR pool or by cooling rain. (Photo by Joe Prezioso)

By JOSH RESNEK

July 4 has come and gone, and with it, that moment during the short New England summer when we are in the thick of it, and loving it, and feeling for a brief mind-less instant, that the warmth will last for a long, long time.

It is the dead of summer, that short snap of the finger or swim in the ocean at the beach or a pool when we

New Englanders have as much summer in front of us as behind us.

The romance and good feelings during this time of the year are abundant.

We are carefree. We wear short sleeves and shorts, summer dresses and bathing suits, sandals, and thongs, smiles… all brought on by the warmth.

It is a time of stasis – a sweet passing moment of equilibrium.

Many of us wish this moment would not pass, that the summer might be at this point for months and months.

Nature indulges in no such fantasies.

The past four days of rain cut the searing heat of the week before; climate change type heat that seemed unbearable.

The heat of summer

JUNE 6: A mallard duck corrals her ducklings as they paddle in the Malden River. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

Just a few thoughts about the heat of summer beating us up this early in the season.

First, some of us believe the heat is wonderful – during the day at the beach, during the late-night on our porches, or in our yards at home.

There is nothing quite like wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts, sandals and sneakers and often taking the garden hose and pouring cold water on our heads.

This is for those who love the heat.

There are of course a great many folks who hate the heat, who are made crazy by the heat, who struggle in every way to beat the heat with air conditioners.

Those people sit in rooms with air conditioners humming, quite content to watch the flat screen in the cool comfort of their homes.

The dead of summer

Melkanie Riberio and Ashley Carmo leap into the DCR pool to cool off on July 2. (Photo By Jim Mahoney)

It’s time to slow down and enjoy each day

By JOSH RESNEK

It is the dead of summer.

It is the moment in the summer upon us when there is more summer in front of us than behind us.

It is that time of the year we tend to exult in because we know how quickly it will pass and how drastically the earth changes around here in a matter of months.

It is a time to enjoy the lengthy days and the light of the early morning.

It is a moment and a time to say who cares about the mayor?

Who cares about city hall or the city council or the school committee?

Confessions of a wannabe gardener

thumbnail copy — Josh Resnek’s vegetable patch includes kale, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, peas, corn and, with luck, cucumbers. (Photos by Josh Resnek)

Greenhorn green thumb

BY JOSH RESNEK

I grew up in a household where we had lovely grounds and more than a handful of exotic flowers and shrubs and mature trees.

My mother liked watching the flowers she planted come to bloom.

My father had an interest in everything about our grounds looking just right, especially the grass, but he never planted anything in a lifetime, and he lived to be 91.

It is said the apples don’t fall far from the tree.

In my lifetime I have never planted anything, not a seed, not a flower, nothing…until last month.

With the aid of my lawyer son, who is cultivating several acres of land in Greenfield where he is practicing law, a small garden was planted in my backyard.

I built the wooden framework, which frankly was idiot’s work, proving I was thoroughly qualified to build it!

My son used the rich soil from my backyard to carve out a garden plot about 200 square feet.

He used a variety of tools, something like a pick axe to break up the soil, his hands to shake the soil free of growth, a shovel to place the soil in the box and then his hands again to do the plantings.

Continue reading Confessions of a wannabe gardener