July to the Rescue!

Frank and me at Hercules, July 3, 2017

When people in Southern California grumble about "June gloom," I suspect they allude to the overcast, the marine layer that hangs over us who live near the Pacific. By afternoon it's frequently burned off, but other days it lingers until nightfall.

Sometimes the gloom even oozes into July. This year it didn't. And for Independence Day celebrations, which seemed to begin here around July 1 this year, the sun glimmered just as much as we expected it to do. I appreciate July. It really does come to the rescue.

For me, June has other gloomy connotations. Every week during this short month has at least a date or two that brings me a wistful memory. Birthdays, weddings, deaths...June's packed with them. A couple of years ago my late daughter-in-law, Mari Lou Laso-Elders, in late May, assigned her creative writing students the task of composing one of those novelty poems, where the first letter of each line spells out a message. This was mine:

June Again

By Terri Elders

Too often when I note this month

On my computer's monitor

Or on the kitchen calendar

Memories emerge.

Unfulfilled dreams, unresolved schemes,

Carefree days that never happened,    

Heavy-hearted dirge.

July rushes in, a rescuer.

Unlimited days, endless nights,

Numbing the aches of solitude…

Ebb and flow converge.

Obviously, I'm relieved when July 5 rolls around. June Gloom has been vanquished, as well as any anxiety about the early days of July (Mama and my sister Patti shared July 2 as their birthday...and I always remember how Grandma Gertie would make a special chocolate cake for the three of us to share...my own birthday, June 28, would wait until closer to theirs.

July began with a barbecue and memorial at my H-W Senior Living complex, where I had my first homemade barbecued burger in a long while. Independence Day debuts early in Orange County...the City of Orange, where both my son and my boyfriend live, celebrates the big event with a patriotic show and fireworks at the high school stadium annually on July 3. For the second year, Frank and I had supper at our favorite Chapman Avenue eatery, Hercules, sitting outside to wait for the boom-hiss-a-boom-boom.

This year we weren't disappointed. We followed up on July 4 by dropping by a neighborhood block party, where all generations paraded, barbecued, splashed on the most elaborate water slide I've ever seen, and competed at horseshoes, ping pong and HORSE. I particularly enjoyed the band, which included a couple of numbers by Willie Nelson.

I didn't fall asleep last night until the fireworks halted...close to midnight. Then I awoke to the calm of July 5. I welcome the rest of summer.

Friends George and Sue Burchfiel

Friends Darlene and Jerry Steddum