Lowcountry Riffs: By the time you read this | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

Printer friendly version |

E-mail to a friend

Lowcountry Riffs: By the time you read this

Published Tuesday, August 24, 2010 4:05 PM

By Jim Tatum
Summerville Journal Scene ®

I will be long gone. Out of sight, out of mind, and not a moment too soon. It’s vacation time, and when it comes to my time off, I’m very old school. Simply stated, I’m not available. To anyone. For any reason. Period. My cell phone is very likely squatting, mute and disgruntled, in the junk drawer of the kitchen. My computer is unplugged and sitting quietly in its canvas bag awaiting my return. The home phone, which I never answer anyway, probably won’t notice a difference in the state of affairs. And any mail that I get that does not start off with the phrase, “pay to the order of Strat” and end with several higher end digits all sitting to the left of the decimal point, will not get so much as a glance until sometime next week.

That’s what time off is about. You make a commitment to relax, forget, and understand that whatever horrors of the world with which you are contending will be there when you get back.

It has been a long, hot, arduous, steamy, stifling, overwhelming summer. I remember back in March wondering when the arctic temperatures would be gone and swearing I would never complain about hot weather again. You don’t have to shovel heat, I kept telling myself.

Well, as George Bush the Elder should have said back in ’88 or so, “Read my lips; I was lying.”

I’ve hated the heat, the humidity, and the fact that my air conditioning bill and my laundry detergent use quadrupled between June and yesterday. I’ve actually become embittered – as opposed to amazed – that we have managed to set a new record for number of consecutive severe heat advisories issued in a single summer.

Our dogs, always smarter than the humans they own, refuse to go outside after about 9 a.m. I hope to come back as one of them in my next life.

Still, I have great reason to celebrate beyond the sheer exhilaration of not thinking about anything beyond what wine goes best with grilled brook trout: It’s also my birthday and my third anniversary, all rolled into one. And I am finding that each one gets better and better.

Ever the late bloomer, I got married on my 43rd birthday, the smartest move I ever made.

A year later, we celebrated our first anniversary moving mountains of packing boxes and furniture into storage -- not the smartest move I ever made.

The next year, we celebrated by doing important renovations and upgrades to our house – because nothing says, “Happy anniversary, baby,” like a subcontractor crew in the kitchen for twelve hours at a time. It was a better way to spend that special week, but definitely not all that.

This year, well, let’s just say we are not moving, cleaning, or having any construction work done during our vacation. We are, after three years of marriage, finally getting to spend this anniversary week completely to ourselves, unencumbered by anything except our own sybaritic pursuits.

Good move. Happy birthday to me, indeed.

Comments

Notice about comments:

Journalscene.com ® is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Journalscene.com ® does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Journalscene.com ®. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.

Users can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends' recent posts, add an avatar that fits their personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again, or if you've never posted before, start now by reading our terms and conditions, and then signing up below!

Full terms and conditions can be read here.

Poll Question

For entertainment, I mainly go out in...

Most Viewed
Most Commented

104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax