Hot Fun In the Summertime

The first day of summer was inaugurated by the second major heat wave of the year. It hit a sweltering upper 90s today and felt every inch of it. Maybe it's just as well that I overslept. I was going to do the morning yoga class, then run to the Collingswood and Haddon Township Libraries...but it was really too hot to be doing a lot of running around. I just opted for a late-morning Haddon Township run.

Needless to say, there wasn't a soul in Newton River Park as I rode over there around 10:30-11 this morning. Even the Geese were hiding from the heat. I saw a few other bikers on the road, but no one else. The trees even looked a little wilted in the hot sun.

Any building with air conditioning was going to be very popular today. The Haddon Township Library was no exception. There was nothing to put away when I arrived at 10:30; I worked on organizing the children's DVDs until more started to come in. Pulled foreign titles from the adult DVDs and shelved the few children's books that were there.

It took me longer to take out three DVDs and two books. The computer check-out systems were down. I did finally end up with the movies 4 for Texas and A Fish Called Wanda, the PBS kids' show The Cat In the Hat Knows A Lot About That, the newest Daisy Dalyrumple mystery Gone West, and the second children's book about the Penderwicks, The Penderwicks on Garden Street.

I rode across the street to the Westmont Plaza to run a few errands and have lunch. This time, I limited my shopping at Super Fresh to a shortbread crust and some on-sale French Vanilla Cool Whip for a Key Lime Pudding Pie later. Quickly dropped into Dollar Tree for sponges, then moved onto the Westmont Bagel Shop. I was rather disappointed with my Turkey, Swiss, and Avocado Spread sandwich on a sun-roasted tomato bagel. The teenager behind the counter toasted my bagel when I said not to. She also slathered wayyyyy too much avocado spread on! It was so messy, I could barely pick it up. I ate most of it with a fork...then discovered the hard way as I chewed that the bagel had some spicy pepper bits.

I dropped by Kayla's on my way home to sooth my overheated head and over-spiced tongue. Other than flowers in pots, Kayla's has now completely given itself over to its ice cream business. The TV set that showed kids' programs is gone, but everything else is there - the statues of cows (that have their own names), Batman, and fries and a hot dog, the horse pulling a carriage under where the TV was, the patio with the pink and yellow tables, the canopied swinging chairs. I opted to savor my soft-serve Maple Nut ice cream on the covered patio. One couple ate their milkshakes on the umbrella table. A mother and her son arrived for milkshakes just as I was finishing my ice cream.

Spent the next hour or so at home, cooling off, making my Key Lime Pudding Pie, and watching The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That. Most of the PBS kids shows skew younger than Nickelodeon or Disney's similar programming and isn't as interesting (except for the Arthur and Sesame Street parodies). The Cat is definitely an exception. It almost plays as an edutainment sequel to the original special and books. Normal kids Sally and Nick have a question about animals, from how honey is made to why birds disappear in the fall. The Cat turns up with Thing One, Thing Two, and his Thing-A-Ma-Jig vehicle and takes the kids and the fussy Fish on an adventure to find the answer. Martin Short was a perfect Cat In the Hat, and there's a lot of Seuss-style humor, rhymes, and wordplay. In fact, I enjoyed these more than some of the later Seuss specials. My favorites were "Oh Give Me a Home," which had the Cat, the kids, and the Fish finding a new home for a hermit crab who outgrew his, and "Migration Vacation," in which the quartet search for Sally's friend Martin the Purple Warbler, who seems to have disappeared south.

Headed for the pool again after the cartoons ended. This time, there was only Rose, Khai, and a friend of Uncle Ken's in with me. (Uncle Ken and Dolores were back from the hospital, but they understandably spent most of the afternoon sleeping.) I got a nice little swim in, watching my littlest nephew kick and swim with the help of his mother and grandmother. The water felt great, in the lower 80s. It was slightly chilly going in, but wonderful once you got used to it.

I had a quick dinner of shrimp, lobster, pasta salad, and steamed spring peas when I got home. Watched The Three Stooges until I went online.