Friday Five Summer in the City

Singing Owl at Revgals has devised a Friday Five that dwells on word associations. It is obvious that she has got some song on her mind:

I am feeling like playing hooky, and I'm putting off sermon prep till tomorrow. It is a beautiful, sunny day at my place. So come on outside and let's play a summer Friday Five!

This post is loosely based on previous "wordy" Friday Fives from Reverend Mother and Songbird. I liked the results, and so we are doing another word association . Theirs were based on words from a lectionary text. Mine comes from the Lovin' Spoonful song, "Summer in the City."

Think summer......are you there? Below you will find five words or phrases. Tell us the first thing you think of on reading each one. Your response might be simply another word, or it might be a sentence, a poem, a memory, a recipe, or a story. You get the idea:

1. rooftop
2. gritty
3. hot town (yeah, I know, it's two words)
4. night
5. dance

1. Rooftop: I live in a small city. I have lived in bigger ones so many of the words that work for large cities don't work here. Rooftop is not some place to go in the summertime. It is merely the top of the house that usually has asphalt tile that has to be repaired every 20 years or so.

2. Gritty: That is the way I feel after I have been to the beach (cf. last week's friday five)

3. hot town: NOT the town I live in! This would mean that there was something going on. There is more going on in the village I work in than the city I live in. Need to go down to NYC if I want to find a "hot town." But I really don't enjoy a "hot town" either. I like the moderately idle place where I live. The only thing about my city in the summer is that all the construction that has to be put off during the winter is frantically done during June, July and August. It is wonderful to have the doors open during the summer months, but the sound of power tools is a liability.

4. Night: Summer evenings sitting on the screened in porch are what I live for. Now that we have a good light there, it is a wonderful place to read and listen to the birds settle down for the night. Then there are the sounds of the insects and frogs that begin their songs at night.

5. Dance: Since I don't, it is enjoyable to watch the animals or insects dance during the summer. As a fly fisher, I am quite attuned to the kinds of bugs there are. Living close to the river, we get the same kinds of bugs that the fish love to eat scattered on our screens. It is mayfly season right now and so each morning I look to see what kinds of bugs have danced onto our porch. Usually Isoconychias, sulfters, pale morning duns, and the various caddis flies. Even though my knees won't let me get on streams anymore, I enjoy thinking of the kinds of flies I might tie to fool one more fish to come to my line. It is a summer dance that fly fishers do.

Bonus: I know that I am older than Singing Owl! Tee Hee! I was already teaching when the Monkeys or whatever that longhaired group was playing this song. Besides, I was a symphonic musician and NEVER listened to THAT kind of music. La dee da! I was such a prude when it came to music then!