The Joy of Iced Tea

Hot days hang on forever when you are living them.  

91F and standing in the late day sun. Your neck swivels your head as far as it will turn to look for shade or liquid refreshment. Some days neither is to be found. But some days there are victories.

Today with no shade in sight your mind’s eye remembers a big old shade tree, a park picnic bench and a glass of ice tea. Sweating from the cold tea the glass is filled with ice to the brim. A wood bench painted cedar red rests in the shade ‘neath the tree. Having adjusted your butt to the hard wood seat up go the polarized shades to the top of your head. Squinting to see through the shimmering heat on the concrete parking lot across the way you hope there is someone who might give you a ride the rest of your walk. Sure enough there's 63 Impala with all your friends ready to head off down the road.

Yeah days like that are memorable. But today there is no park, no parking lot, no ride, no shade and no ice tea.  Don’t worry you will find you way to there, to that cool shaded place, before it is over.

Sunburns, t-shirts soaked with sweat, the buzzing of insets around the bushes at the edge of the park; each one of them is a different part of the memory of a summer day.  Ice tea, well there just isn’t anything like it to refresh a body, or to quench a thirst acquired from even a short walk.   

I am a sliced lemon on the lip of the glass kind of person on really hot days.  Tartness without any sugar makes ice tea just so darn cooling.

In six months will we be begging for days like this.  Take today as it is and savor it.