Sweet Southern Summer Nights

There’s just something about summer that makes Mom’s drawl get thicker, cat (or dog) naps become more frequent and all in all, life finds a way to simmer down in the squelching heat. And maybe it’s the fire flies, June bugs and whippoorwills, but things tend to get more southern on summer nights.

Here in Candy’s Land, we recently forfeited our typical Friday night city lights and took a sunset swim in Lake Sinclair (thanks, Kyle!). Yep, I even doggy-paddled my way around, a little freaked out being my first time in the water, but I soon cooled down and floated with Mom before chilling on the dock after a good shake. Boiled peanuts, iced beer, good friends and a countryside car ride home with the windows down and my head sticking out . . . it doesn’t get much better than that.

All in all, Mom is trying to give us a bit of a break this summer. She wants to slow things down slightly like the Country Time lemonade commercial and enjoy the natural (free) offerings of nature. And while there are some things in life that she can’t exactly put the breaks on (Bragg Jam in five weeks, people!), she’s trying to rock a little longer on the porch without anxious foot twitching on what all needs to be done and where she needs to go next.

So, she’s kicking things off in her cowgirl boots. She is heading out west to Wyoming, where she will be staying on a friend’s ranch, riding horses, herding cattle and living out her Cowboy Envy dreams. She’ll also be on assignment, writing an article about the Houston County-based businessman and rancher for Houston County Magazine, and she’ll have two partners in crime, Honey Shot and Bright Blue, armed with cameras to help document the journey.

As for us left in Candy’s Land, me and Shuga D will be keeping the home fires burning, occasionally howling at the moon on our sweet summer Southern nights, when we get to missin’ Mom among the coyotes.