April is the cruellest month, breeding
lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.......
T.S. Eliot The Wasteland 1922
I do not know if this April was the cruelest, but it seems that April 2010 was the hottest month ever on record. I did not notice its hotness. We had some very hot days but the impression of oppressive heat did not register on my internal thermometer. I checked with Kevin Grogan, our weather barista, and he confirms it was indeed the hottest ever recorded in Central Park.
http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=OKX&product=RER
A clue to the higher temps was that Liam was out a lot. He loves the outdoors
and he began chasing, 
sniffing 
and resting 
on the lawn early and often this April.The last week in April might have proved to be just too hot for some. Early in the week I discovered a pair of shorts draped over a chair in our back yard.
Now I thought the shorts might belong to "The Ultimate Chimney Company"who had cleaned our gutters on Monday, April 26. Or maybe to our Lawn service. I mulled over my course of action. Should I ask who left their shorts in my yard? Was this opening me up to uncomfortable suspicion? Would the question reflect negatively on one of the service people? I decided to send an email to the gutter cleaning folks since they would not be returning. The lawn team comes by on Tuesdays and would see the shorts again, and pick them up, had they left them. So I sent a note. Thanks for your wonderful service on Monday April 26, 2010. We found a pair of blue shorts on the chair in the back yard -was wondering if they were left that day.
We were thinking it was either your team or our gardener's-we noticed on Wednesday.
We were thinking it was either your team or our gardener's-we noticed on Wednesday.
Carol McNiff
No reply yet, I hope I have not been crossed off their client list for shorts stealing or that their service guy has been fired for leaving his shorts (in the hottest month of April ever).
Then on Friday April 30, last day of the hottest April ever, we drove out to Bayville for lunch. Bayville is located on the Long Island Sound and is the site of our wedding reception, which was in April, 1982. While we sat outside on the deck on Wall's Wharf http://www.wallsbeach.com/
We noticed another abandoned pair of pants. What is going on with folks leaving their pants/shorts? These had boots attached. 
Seems the owner was inside the restaurant having anchored his boat 
just offshore. He had taken off his boot/pants 
to enter the restaurant. So his lost pants would have a reunion later.As we enjoyed the view of Long Island Sound, a woman and her dog strolled by,
a Liam look alike. Paul and I both agree that Liam is not a beach dog and the north shore rocks and shells would bother his feet so we felt okay that we had left him home alone. Liam loves grass. He would not have gone near the water. We assume the ship's captain reclaimed his pants after he finished his lunch.We still have an unclaimed pair of shorts.
Liam outside enjoying the hot April,
no shorts, no boots, no bodies of water
just a hot lawn and warm sunWoof, woof
,
I only remembered the first line of that T.S. Eliot poem; I remember something about a high school teacher saying that it's hard to be depressed when the weather is so good; it makes you realize how bad your life is if you're not happy in April (or something like that; it was a very long time ago). Our April was warmer than usual also; we usually have cold, damp weather up until the end of school in late June. We have had an unusually warm, sunny spring. I envy your lovely green grass. Our back yard is just mostly dirt; the big tree in the middle sucks up a lot of the water and having a dog doesn't help either. In fact we bought some Scotts EZ grow grass seed yesterday to try to get some grass to grow again; it's guaranteed to grow on concrete.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. In my first Humanities course at Columbia (1973), the entire semester was devoted to studying The Wasteland. That made September thru December some cruel months too. My dog Dee Dee also loves a hot lawn. The only thing she likes more is a hot deck. When the sun is beating down on the wood, she's there, even in winter.
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy and Joe for your comments. The Wasteland is a rough one to get through. Paul and I picked April for our wedding because it is ususally "the Cruellest month" that is cruel with the double L T.S. Eliot style. Our green Grass is purely due to our wonderful gardener Marcus. Liam does his best to undo any and all of his work. And Liam also loves the hot driveway the a nice long drink from his water bowl. Thanks for sharing your srories.
ReplyDeleteit was the hottest APRIL on record, not the hottest month. i knew what you meant, but it was a little confusing at first. don't worry. just a weather nerd being what he is
ReplyDeletekevin
Thanks Kevin. I would like to say I make these mistakes for all of you to find and have some fun, but sadly not so. I also have two typos in my comment above but a dear reader has told me that the eye corrects as it reads. I sometimes reply on my bb and the screen is way too small to verify spelling.
ReplyDelete