Life in hot weather

12 July  2010

When it’s hot we leave for a walk at 8.30 in the morning and at 7 o’clock on weekends.

It’s not hot yet and even when we cross Big Boars’ Meadow on the way home only Gerda pants.

But she is already twelve years old...

Mikimoto , Yolk and Lukasik rush about.

And all good people, glory to God, are still asleep, have breakfast or buy beer at this time.

And today also there was nobody at the little forest lake!

I believe that’s what we call happiness: warm earth under bare feet, light breeze, sun, singing birds, meadow filled with flourishing  daisies, willow-herbs, bellflowers and Saint-John’s worts and an air dense with scents.

We swim for an hour. That means that Lukasik swims for a whole hour never reaching the shore. All the rest  swim for a couple of times hither and thither and then bring sticks and bottles thrown into the water, dive, jump into the water, investigate the shores and scrapyards which swelled like cow parsnip, gnaw pieces of coal, Orinoko uproots bushes, Fred buries in the sand his precious milk bottle – everyone is busy. I begin to collect these bottles in winter. Each day I need eight bottles at least.

Even my friends from Moscow brought us once a hundred Coca-Cola bottles.

like to swim. I reach a far end of the lake, then call Fred or Katya and they bring me back. I just put my hands on their backs.

On our way back we pass Casya’s Pool.

Strictly speaking it’s not Casya’s Pool but Orinoco’s Pool because precisely Orinoco takes baths

here and only her children follow her example. But only Casper and Basya bathe here with such enthusiasm.

It’s not an ordinary pool because it never dries.

Sokolov brook (see the map) has dried, but the foundation has appeared.

Tomorrow I’ll try to take it’s picture.

Someone has dug out a pit for the foundation on the Boars’ Meadow and brought there building materials for the new house.

But we were lucky. This pit became another Casya’s Pool.

Subsoil waters have filled the pit and didn’t subside.

Building materials were taken away and now we swim in this pit – namely Goldens do swim there on the way to the lake and back.

They come home approximately clean and wet. And while we are having breakfast the HEAT comes.

All except Orinoco go into the house and lie down there as doormats

And only Arisha basks in the sun. Many times I’ve tried to take her to the shade but she returned  and again roasts in the sun.  I can’t understand her behavior but she always did it even when she was pregnant.

Several times a day I switch on a pump. I prepare water for plants’ watering but Goldens apparently think that it’s a rehearsal of a Grand Golden show and knock the hose out of my hands.

Then wet and happy they again retreat into the house and lie down there as doormats. Arisha as usually in the sun.