Summertime Is Calling Me

The weather is changing for sure. Instead of 3 cool days and one warm day we are now in the season of three warm days and one cool day. Along with this season comes the afternoon thundershowers which at times can be severe. It's still amazing to sit on my deck and watch a cloud like the one above, grow before your eyes....which it did last night. If it happens to be at sundown the show can be nothing short of spectacular! It's getting to be summertime...

I'm getting into the warm weather swing now. For the past few mornings I have been taking my bike out to an area that I can ride into the back end of Chatfield State Park. This State park is smack dab in the middle of the Denver metro area but once inside the park you would think you're miles away. The main draw to the park is the reservoir which on weekends, is choked with boats of all descriptions zooming back and forth. Having lived in Savannah, GA for some years and having a boat that I would take inshore and offshore fishing I always chuckle at seeing some of the huge boats that people put into this lake. There is actually a "boating capacity" at the reservoir and once that is reached, which is not unusual to happen on a nice summer weekend, no boat can be launched until one is taken out.

But I digress. I have found a shortcut to get into the backside of the park that is about 10 minutes from my house. The park has numerous trails for hiking and biking so I am now exploring those. I've been going out at about 8:30 and returning at about 10:30 am. The weather then is still delightfully cool and I have really enjoyed myself.

Here's some of the things I've seen on my rides...


















Now, back to the title of the post. Summertime is Calling Me is the title to an early 1970's tune by The Catalinas that was a huge beach music hit. I'm not talking about Beach Boys stuff here. I'm talking about Carolina Beach Music. This is a regional music that started in the 1950's and is still going strong today. This is the music I danced to while I was in college in the late 60's. This is the music that still gets my toe tapping even today. The dance that accompanies this music is called the Carolina Shag and it's the official dance of both North and South Carolina. The Mecca of Beach Music and The Carolina Shag is Myrtle Beach and it's neighbor, "OD" or Ocean Drive.

Whodathunk that a thunder cloud would make me think of these things? Listen to Summertime is Calling me and watch the folks do the Shag here.

This will be my last post for a while. I'm leaving for my daughter's wedding on Thursday and won't be back till Monday. I'll take my laptop with me but blogging will be far from my mind.

Thanks for visiting.