In the immortal notes and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin:<\/p>\n
\u201cSummertime, an’ the livin’ is easy<\/strong><\/p>\n Fish are jumpin’ an’ the cotton is high.<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, yo’ daddy’s rich and yo’ ma is good-lookin’<\/strong><\/p>\n So hush, little baby, don’ you cry.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n While statues of Lincoln freeing the slaves are being pulled from their pedestals maybe cotton fields aren\u2019t the acceptable subject of song, especially with all that yo\u2019 and mammy going on in the lyrics.\u00a0 But here at Orion\u2019s Cold Fire we appropriate culture with a rakish grin and a tip of the cap.<\/p>\n Anyway, we are bearing down on July and anyone who has been hanging around here for more than a year knows that July is my sacred time.\u00a0 I live to have a week or two off during the hottest, sunniest, least wintery time of the year.\u00a0 It must be my Mediterranean heritage.\u00a0 Relaxing in a country environment during this time of the year with no work responsibilities is as close to heaven as I am ever likely to get either before or after death (being an irredeemable sinner).<\/p>\n Because of the COVID hoax I will be deprived of the annual pleasure of seeing all of my relatives this summer which is tragic.\u00a0 But I refuse to let this insanity cancel this most joyful time of the year and I intend to fulfill all my usual rituals and revel in all the things I enjoy.\u00a0 I intend to grill up a barbecue and eat watermelon and corn on the cob, enjoy potato salad and lemonade.\u00a0 I\u2019ll watch old movies and listen to music that evokes memories of the best of times.\u00a0 I will photograph birds and bugs and flowers and I will sleep in a hammock under a tree and listen to the music of the wood thrush and the song sparrow (or at least a blue jay and a mourning dove).\u00a0 And for a few days I will ignore BLM and antifa and Nancy Pelosi and even my soulless boss.<\/p>\n But what I will not ignore is OCF and the good folks who come here to see what crazy things I\u2019m talking about next.\u00a0 I will have things to say and reviews of things I like.\u00a0 I will share photos and anything else I think might be interesting.\u00a0 Things may slow down a little but there won\u2019t be a gap.\u00a0 What hopefully will be missing is outrage.\u00a0 At this time of the rolling year I think it is more than desirable to forsake the doom and gloom that is so all encompassing in our daily lives and look for the good and happy and fun.\u00a0 I will seek out the traditional sources of wholesome happiness and sling them at you folks with both hands.\u00a0 I will accentuate the positive.\u00a0 I will be jolly if it kills me.<\/p>\n And so, this is my intention.\u00a0 It is possible that some new atrocity will preclude all this.\u00a0 If the Jacobeans come marauding down the highway and torch the Compound then most probably my plan for revelry will evaporate.\u00a0 Bad weather could throw a damper on my plans or illness could ruin it.\u00a0 But I wish everyone out there a very happy high summer, especially you folks in the northern latitudes.\u00a0 This is the time we look forward to during all those short snowy days and long frigid nights of winter.<\/p>\n