Summertime – a little music to set the mood
Warning – no hog hunting content in this post! You can blame Rex, at the Deer Camp Blog, for this departure.
We’ve been locked into an unusually long “June Gloom” pattern here in the San Francisco Bay Area, so it hasn’t felt much like summer lately. With highs in the upper 60’s on a good day, and low clouds shielding the sun until well after noon every day, it’s practically depressing… especially for someone like me who grew up on the southeastern coast of NC.
Folks call me crazy, but I miss those muggy mornings when the air is practically liquid. There’s something about stepping out the front door into a wall of heat and humidity that brings a sweat before you can reach the air conditioned truck cab that just says, “home,” to me. I miss that sun rumbling up, red as molten copper, over a glassy, bathwater-warm ocean.
Anyway, I don’t get the opportunity to get back to those NC summer days, but sometimes a little music takes me there. Here are a couple that can always take me back… even if only for a few minutes at a time.
First, here’s Will Smith (The Fresh Prince), with a really cool twist on the Miles Davis jazz classic, Summertime.. This is just made for cruising down “the Strip” at Wrightsville Beach with the windows rolled down:
And here’s a version of Mr Davis doing it himself:
And finally, no Carolina summer is complete without a little beach music!
Liquid air? Yes, you are crazy. But I feel your pain about this weird weather. And word has it the party’s over – heat is on the way. At least here in SacTown.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Cool stuff, man.
As for liquid air, I’m with Cazadora on this one, although my idea of home on a Summer day is probably equally crazy: Up before Sunrise, with a small breeze and 50-55 degrees. As the Sun rises, while you cast Power worms on a Carolina rig, the temps. climb steadily. Occasionally, a wisp of wind wafts the scent of figs through the air, or blackberries or mullein.
By the time you get back to the dock, say 10:30, it’s time to head in, because the temp. went from 55 to 90. By four, it’ll be 111 and a bit muggy, as the hot air sucks water from the corn fields. The asphalt softens, and waves of heat transform the flat landscape into van Gogh paintings. The partyboaters are out in full force, all of them burned so bad that they have to drink that heavily to forget that they are really in pain. They will be the raccoon-eyed officeworkers come Monday. With Sunset, the temperatures drop off, and a breeze might pick up that turns into a steady 15 mile-per-hour wind. You put your sweatshirt back on and go catch a softball game.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I’m am finding you a little strange at the moment, Phillip. Liquid air?
I’ll pass thank you. It could be my Michigan heritage shining through, but I’ll pass on muggy warm days and settle for a 50 degree fall day any day of the week.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
it’s only 100 here today, can’t wait till august when it gets hot.
June 18th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Good post and songs/videos. I get plenty of that liquid air here in Virginia, although it’s rained so much here it still doesn’t really feel like summer. I too can’t wait to see the sun rising over the ocean from a Carolina beach.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:36 am