By Jane O’Shields-Hayner
“It’s hot as blue blazes!” I said, wiping the sweat from my face with a faded, red bandana. I wet it under the garden hose and lay it, cool, around my neck.”
“Can we get more ice cubes, Mommy?” Rebekah asked.
“We’ve used them all. They go fast when it’s a hundred and six.” I answered, stepping into the soupy water of the plastic pool where my daughters sat with squirt toys, dolls, and blades of grass bobbing on the surface.
Rachael hugged my bare legs and lay her cheek against my knee. “Can we go to a real pool, Mommy?” She begged. “…a big one with a divey board and everything, … please?”
“I think it’s time we found one…” I said, …but let’s eat first!”
Both girls stood up in the tepid water and began to dance. “Swimmy pool, swimmy pool!” they chanted.
I stepped out, brushed the green cuts of grass from my legs and headed for the house. “You-all play in the sprinkler while I make lunch!” I called back.
“OK, Mommy!” shouted Rebekah, dragging a hot hose with a sprinkler ring spraying behind it.
I walked up the back steps, where three air conditioners roared from windows in our rented home. The one near me sounded a loud boom and the walls and wood floor lurched, as the thermostat switched it off or on. I had learned to sleep through it, in fact, it comforted me; for I was born and raised in the blistering heat of North Central Texas. Continue Reading…