Happy Fourth of July and May the Cool Be With You

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/07/03/norwood-front-yard-lawn-flag-fourth-of-july/

I hope this link works. It's about a guy in Norwood who painted his whole lawn with an American flag. He used "field paint." I had no idea there was such a thing! I wonder what I could paint on my lawn  ...

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It's over 93 F. and 61% humidity, making this the fifth day in a row of an "official" heat wave. I am feeling very spoiled with my new mini split air conditioner. When I do have to go out, the hot air in the garage hits me 

as if a knit scarf had been tossed at my face.

We have had quite a few thunderstorms. Yesterday, we had a very heavy downpour that reminded me of the afternoon tropical downpours in Orlando. And it seems to be raining overnight. Consequently, it's even more jungle-like around here. They missed mowing my lawn last week and I have all of these extra long stragglers that have popped up. Hopefully, they will mow tomorrow!

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I know you're getting sick of seeing my lettuce, but I haven't really had any photo ops lately! This is before harvest -- I ate it! I don't think it will grow back, but I'm not complaining. I got a whole lot of salads out of these little lettuce starts!

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I'm reading Sara Paretsky's Bitter Medicine. It's one of her older books, but it was on sale for a very inexpensive price, so I bought it. That reminds me that I forgot to go to my post office box. Maybe I'll do that under cover of darkness. (It's a bad hair day.)

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Last night Naomi met me at the Amherst Cinema and we watched The Naked Man in the Playing Field. It was an East German film and I'm really glad we had two (count 'em!) UMass professors explaining what it was all about. I sure wouldn't have gotten any of the political nuances, but it was interesting. It's about a sculptor who is making "new" art and the people in the little town don't quite 'get it.' Meanwhile, the sculptor is obsessed with Babi Yar, a Kiev concentration camp for women. He realizes that young people have no idea what that is. He has been making sculptures and friezes of women for some time.

Then he gets an official o.k. to make a sculpture for a local soccer field. The local guys think he will memorialize their former goalie who has just died. What he comes up with is a very nice bronze athlete -- nude. The townspeople are horrified but don't know how to refuse the statue. At the end of the movie, the sculptor is looking at snapshots of pre-pubescent girls leaning on the statue and giggling at the visible naughty bits.

I'm really glad this movie was free to members! It was nice to hear the mini lectures about the film (although the first guy went on a bit too long). This screening may have been part of a summer college course because there were some students there.

I have often thought of how young people do not know anything of our history (as in parents) as he observed about the concentration camp. I wonder if I said My Lai to my daughters if they would know about that. I know that I mentioned Kent State once and they had no idea about what I meant.

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I am the contact for the August artists at the Burnett Gallery. As we waited for the water colorist to arrive, I chatted with the photographer. It turns out that he is a photographer full time. His Viet Nam PTSD got him a full disability from the Army (1st Airborne) and it was one of his counselors who suggested he start using a camera. He said it does help and he's been doing it for over three years.

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I hope you all have a happy and safe Fourth of July.