HOT

In the Midwest, we are not used to the intense, unrelenting heat and humidity that we have been experiencing lately.  But I do prefer this to the dark, cold days of the Midwest winters.  So I have decided to compile a list of things I love to do in the summer to cool off:

• Go to the pool!  We have a lovely pool in our subdivision that is never too crowded and always delightful.
• Go to the library.  It's nice and cool, they have ongoing art displays each month, there are shelves and shelves of books just waiting to be perused . . . need I go on?
• Enjoy a nice, refreshing beverage.  Since we have a bumper crop of mint in our backyard, I've been making virgin mojitos on a hot days:  12 mint leaves muddled with 1/2 a lime and a little simple syrup or sugar.  Add club soda and some ice cubes and it's a sure-fire way to cool off!  (You can make simple syrup by combining equal parts of boiling water and sugar.  Stir until dissolved, and then cool.  Keep it in the fridge and add to iced tea and other cold drinks that need a little sweetener.)
• Some of my other favorite cold drinks are:  McDonald's sweet tea or frozen strawberry lemonade, Dunkin Donuts' vanilla iced latte, root beer floats, Caribou's iced chai tea, . . .
• Turn on the fan and play in my studio -- at least until the sun moves around and shines into my western facing window.  Then it's usually pool time!
• Turn on the sprinkler late in the evening.  Even if I don't get wet in the spray, there's something very cooling about watching the water droplets drench the garden.

That's a pretty good start to my list. I want to add a picture that I braved the heat in my yard to take this morning.  Last night when I was watering, I saw a sweet little bird sitting on a nest in our tree.  So I tried to get a couple of shots of him/her this morning, but there's quite a bit of foliage around the nest.  I'm not sure what kind of bird it is:

Of course, these pics are awful.  But the sweet little bird is faithfully tending the nest in the heat.  I've been making sure to keep the birdbath filled with fresh water so our feathered visitors can cool off a bit.  Maybe I need to camp out near the birdbath to get some good pics . . .