It rained yesterday—our first rainy day since summer began. It came down softly, all .41 inches of it. I had the windows open but it got so chilly and damp (in the 60's) that I had to close some of them. Weird. We kept the pool covered for all the good it did. Now the temperature is down to 75/76 degrees F. Brrrr.  

We also had to fish out seven, count 'em, SEVEN frogs from the pool and one of them was just a baby. I sure hope they aren't breeding in there. I told them, hey, this isn't a pond, it's a pool! Ridiculous! Of course they all scoot into the deep end to make it even harder to catch them. Rick is really good with the net thank goodness.

 Photo: Splashing fish fountain at Skylands.

Just mostly thoughts today. Our weather has suddenly turned from scorching heat to mild temperatures in the high 70's, dipping even into the high 50's at night. The mornings are cool and and not as sticky. It feels wonderful! But, I am not ready for summer to give way to fall just yet. Say it isn't so!

Although this makes for great windows-open-sleeping-weather, the pool is currently suffering. Now it's down to 78 degrees. However, this week we are starting the process of getting a pool heater installed. We've struggled over the years with the decision: to get one or not? We finally came to the conclusion that pool time is something we enjoy immensely and we are not getting the full potential out of  the pool because of the August downslide. There is also the problem with the beginning of the season and waiting for the water temperature to rise enough to be swimmable. The heater will bridge the gap on both sides, allowing us several more weeks to take advantage of the short season.

As I type, Dennis is out prepping the area for the heater which is due in today. Dennis and Jean own the local pool store, Aqua Tech, where we get all our pool supplies and have our water tested each week. He also opens and closes the pool every year for us. Since we've been on board with them our pool has been sparkling clean with no problems. Not only are they great at what they do, but they are just great people. The heater process will probably take several weeks since we have to coordinate with the company providing the propane and also the electrician. Hopefully it will all come together smoothly and we'll be back to comfortable nighttime laps soon. 

Alex is doing pretty good today. I could tell yesterday that the treatment was affecting him. I could see it in his eyes—tired and not up to snuff, but he still ate his evening meal and was pretty happy other than being a bit more lethargic and sleepy than usual. Since they inject the drugs right into his veins I can imagine he would feel it almost immediately. Kind of like a junkie shooting up (although I have no clue what that would actually feel like).  He has eaten and now his eyes look much better. Just maybe we'll get through this one without any bad side effects.

We're supposed to be getting rain tomorrow which is why I mowed the grass today. It has slowed its growth down and only needs to be mown every couple of weeks now—yet another sign of impending fall. The grass smells so sweet this time of year that I wish I could bottle the scent. I'd call it "Sweet August Meadow Grass." 

Eight degrees? That's how much our pool dropped in temperature between last week and this week. 80 degrees feels a lot different than 88 does, but we still enjoyed hanging out and floating around the pool on Saturday. It was a pretty nice day weather-wise and both Rick and I got more sun than we intended to. 

We ate lunch pool side: a refreshing and delicious ceviche with calamari, shrimp and scallops with tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, avocado and cilantro. Rick made the recipe up and I must say, I was impressed.

Yesterday we met up with the Miata club once again for a short run. The weather was not the best however, and on our drive down to the meet-up point it poured. And poured. And then it poured some more.

Have you ever been in a rag top convertible in the pouring rain? It's very loud. Rick and I had to raise our voices and practically yell at each other just to talk. Yikes. Thankfully the pouring rain stopped when we got to the meet-up point and it turned into a drizzle. Its was a tops-up kind of day I'm afraid. About ten cars showed up and a few people didn't come, and I can't say that I blame them. 

Blairstown, NJ (the only town we drove through)

The drive was very pretty and mostly through hilly, densely wooded terrain.  The trees formed a tunnel over the road and it got very dark. It was a bit eerie with patches of fog hanging closely to the ground and in between the thick woods. It would have looked much different on a hot sunny day, but it had its own peculiar charm. 

We finally braved the elements and about 3/4 of the way through the run we put our top down. We finished the run at Lake Mohawk and the rest of the club stayed for lunch, but Rick and I opted to just come home.

We plan on joining them next Sunday too, but after that there aren't any planned runs until October. We're enjoying the runs! It's a good way to see countryside we haven't seen before and meet new people at the same time. Next week we plan on staying for lunch (which will be at an old-fashioned drive-in) and getting to know the people better. Here's hoping for good weather!

It's been a pretty good day today. Alex was not at his best early this morning and I feared we were taking backward steps. Not so, thankfully, as he ate a HUGE amount of food today and was bouncy and barking and pretty much his normal self after getting over his early morning grumpies.  Yeah, Alex! The back side of this is that he goes back in two days for yet another chemo treatment. Hopefully this next one won't affect him as much. Fingers crossed.

We had a lap fest in the pool again tonight. The water temp is at 86 freakin' degrees. It's like a hot tub. I did 30 lengths and could have done more, but I stopped while I was ahead of my game. The water is luscious. Warm. Inviting. Only one bat tonight. It seems the bug population is not to their liking. We still have a few fireflies on and off (more off than on) and the cicadas have not yet really arrived.

We are in the midst of a heat wave here. The heat indices have been over 100 degrees F for the past couple of days. Tomorrow is supposed to be our hottest yet. It seems silly to say, but it can be too hot to be outside in the pool. I hide in the air conditioning with the dogs. I don't think we've had the house open for about a month now. We really need two zones for our house to keep it cool upstairs which we don't have, so we have a room air conditioner in our bedroom that runs constantly at night. During the day of course, we keep all necessary rooms closed off. I try to get everything done that I need to do such as watering outside plants, errands to the store, etc., done before the afternoon heat sets in. It's supposed to end this weekend with a round of (naturally) severe storms. We need a break.

But for now we'll enjoy the crazy pool temps and lap it all up.

I have no photos.

Swimming 20 lengths of the pool.

Bats flying overhead.

The occasional lost firefly blinking on and off in the woods.

After the 20 lengths, floating face up listening to my heartbeat, watching the bats flying above me. I felt as if I was still afloat in amniotic fluid. A child reborn.

Frogs croaking.

A dog doing so well after his second chemotherapy treatment that it makes my heart sing.

The first cicada heard today while floating in the pool with hubby. Not the guest cicadas, but the real ones that come every year. Welcome, cigales.

Goodnight world. All is well. At least for now.