Litwit Lounge discussion

Hello! The summer season may have just started but we have already been in the spirit of it since May. Things warm up pretty early down here, and kids (and me) have been out of school for nearly a month.

We've had the warmest June in years, after an usually cool May.
Happy Summer, everyone!

Oh yes, May was wonderful cooler this year; although I know folks in the more northern states didn't appreciate it quite as much. ;-)

Yesterday and today have been our hottest days of the year, both over 110°. Well, guess the party couldn't last forever. Now I must take advantage of the early morning hours for any outdoor activities, so that means walks & hikes at 6 or 7. 5 is too ambitious although it is light then.

No matter where one lives, those gradual changes into the next season seem to be rare -- enjoy!

Heating up quick here as it's 82° and not even 8 yet. That explains why I am going kayaking tomorrow at 7 (it'll be my first time).

I've always wondered what makes a book a good beach read? Or patio or park for that matter? I tend to get distracted anytime I read outside although I love the notion of being outdoors with a book.

110⁰? Owwww....!
I can't answer your question, because I don't really like to read outdoors, sorry!

Yeah, that's typical for this time of year. I don't expect there will be any highs under 100° until late September or October. But May was nice this year, really, think it stayed under 100° the whole month. :-)

You don't like reading outdoors? I guess I don't either since I can't seem to do so for more than a few minutes at a time. Perhaps it's just the notion, well, I will keep on trying as soon as I find a way to make the patio cool. Thinking of buying an evaporative fan to put out there.

Better get going ... I have a kayaking trip in the morning. My first.

I always thought bestsellers (Jurassic Park one year) and romances were beach books. Ones that don't take a lot of concentration. Just me.

Which I think of as airplane/airport books. Something distracting enough to keep the boredom and nervousness away, but not requiring too much serious thought.

That too. But I knit or crochet to make the time go faster. Trying to keep old arts alive and besides I love it.

Just a quick note to let you all know I'll have limited Internet access for awhile --only here on my office computer. My home computer has been shutting down by itself and rebooting (while I'm on it --five times in two days!), so until our computer repair guy can fix it, I won't be using it. (Dust build-up isn't the problem --though it did have an awful case of that!) Hopefully it'll be as good as new very soon!

Sorry to hear about your home computer gremlins! I hope that's resolved soon.

Thanks, Callista! At least my office computer still works. :-)

My favorite scene concerning beach reading is an old Jimmy Stewart movie called Mr. Hobbs Takes a vacation. For several days he goes out to the beach and tries to read War and Peace. Very funny stuff!
For years I tried to read serious fiction on the beach but gave up years ago, the last being an Umberto Eco gem by which I became heavily sunburned! Much better that I read something romantic but not too serious, like chick lit without a lot of male bashing. After all, at the beach especially, it's a good time to be romantic! No one wants to take a holiday with someone reading Milton.

War and Peace at the beach, lol, I can imagine that would be quite a feat to accomplish. So it does sound unanimous -- only light reads outdoors! ;-)

I got a book about a barn owl while we were in Taos and love it. If you like animal stories you may like this one too.Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

Hahaha That sounds cute. I seem to be watching a lot of cartoons on tv lately: Montsters, Inc., Up, or talking animals. love the comments they make about us.
Hoped you liked Taos. one of my favorite places. I did a writers retreat in the Ski Vally for 7 years in the 90s.

Taos is my favorite place to go. The art there is always uplifting even tho I can't afford any of it. We always go in the Moby Dickens book store. Oh, the ski valley is so high. We went up there once and I was glad to see it but very glad to get back down as I cannot take that altitude. I am on oxygen at night. Bet it was wonderful.

The owl book is very serious as its written by a research biologist working at Cal Tech. She even learns many things about barn owls which are different from all other owls. I had no idea that owls hissed. That was a new one for me. My husband and I are always seeing owls. I never saw one til I met him but he used to be a park ranger so has a knack for spotting them. We have seen The Great Horned Owl, the Pygmy owl (tried to get his cat), and I spotted the Burrowing owl leaping from it hole! It was such a funny sight. I collect owls and other figurines.

Hahahahaha "Gurgle of the filter" Good one, Charly.

Since I have time now to read whatever I want when ever I want (except for heavy books because of my shoulder surgery), I like the light reading at the beach. Tho in NM beaches are hard to find and I haven't been to the ocean in years. Tho there is a very nice rushing stream in the Taos Ski Valley. Used to lull me to sleep if I didn't drop from exhaustion!

Yeah, Tingley Beach doesn't exactly count, does it? But we have some rather large lakes.
PS: I love Monsters, Inc.; it's one of my favourites.

Yay! Just wanted to let everybody know, my home computer is back from the hospital! So I can be online much more often than I've been for the past roughly two weeks --and that means more Goodreads, so I'm a happy camper right now. :-)

Thanks for your comments, Charly. Been a few years since I've been to the beach -- sure miss it! LOL, I looked up Tingley Beach... ;-) All it really needs is some surf and seagull noises, eh?

Good to see you, Werner. So glad to see your computer has made a successful recovery!

Tingley Beach is a strip of sand (dirt) along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. Used to be something big back in the 30s and 40s.

Glad your computer is all better, Werner.

Thanks, Reggia and Syra!

Good suggestion, Charly. Good way to get thru medical procedures that you are not fond of!

LOL, very true, Syra! My previous dentist had mural posters on the ceiling, and I have to say it really helped to concentrate on those rather than all those dental tools inserted in my mouth.

For those of us in the desert and far from the beach, we just build one as this nearby community did: Val Vista Lakes Beach

"Go to your happy place!" :)
Glad your computer is better, Werner.

Thanks, Callista! (I'm glad, too. :-))

Early Monday morning, Barb and I will be off for another of our week-long trips --the last one for this year-- to see her side of the family. I'll have very little Internet access there as usual, so I'll be away from Goodreads for the duration. But I'll look forward to catching up when I get back!

Have a safe trip and enjoy yourselves. We will probably go back to VA in Oct. again is my physical therapy continues so well.

Thanks, Syra! And you know we're all continuing to think about you often, and wishing you all the best with that physical therapy.

Hope you each have a good trip!

Thanks, Reggia! Barb and I did; but as you can tell, it's taking me awhile to catch up with things here, since we got back on Sunday afternoon!