Thursday, 8 May 2008

Fast Summer

This is a message of dire importance, so I’m not going to take the time for a long introduction-or any introduction.

Summer is fast here, forget Spring. Sweet southerly winds have been replaced by Alberta clippers and we’ve seen growing grass covered by a foot of snow so any naïve ideas of Spring should be saved for 2009. For this reason, I want to jump-start your summer with a few reminders.

First off, go to the hardware store. Hardware stores spend the winter serious and buttoned down as they service those who seek to repair something which froze and then broke. This time of year, hardware stores figuratively break out their shorts and flip-flops and are a nice place to visit. If you didn’t spend the winter planning for summer then a trip to the hardware store will give you some ideas and fast forward the plans you didn’t make this winter. I spend a great deal of time at these sort of establishments and sometimes I’m not even looking for hardware.

Secondly, change what you eat and drink. Make the food lighter and the drinks fruitier to mirror the season. Last night I made skinless chicken with a crust made of oatmeal and parmesan cheese. I don’t know why chicken is normally served with it’s skin (I don’t eat my hamburger inside a leather glove) but now is the time to lighten up on your eating. I recently began replacing some of my coffee intake with green tea. In the past, I’ve found tea drinking a bit effeminate but I wanted something with a little less kick and so tried this concoction which tastes a little like hot water strained through Canadian Thistle. It’s not too bad and the reduction in caffeine is good for me. Considering how many men use cream, sugar and other products in what should be “plain black coffee” maybe drinking tea isn’t as effeminate as I first thought. I also would like to make a personal recommendation of Leinenkugels Honey Weiss and Berry Weiss-individually they are great but mixed together they are light and fruity magic. Lisa and I recently discovered the perfect summer dessert-mix equal parts orange sherbet and frozen cool whip; it tastes like a dream sickle and has less calories than ice cream.

Last summer I recommended “Ice Road Truckers” as a nice break from summer time heat. Ice Road Truckers will make the heat and mosquitoes seem a minor inconvenience when compared to a cold and watery death as tractor and trailer together plunge through the ice somewhere near Toktoyaktuk in the northern most area of the Canadian territories. The History channel hasn’t released a start date for the show but I would guess somewhere in mid-June.

Finally, get out there. Soak up enough good, sunny memories to last you a winter’s worth of sunlight deprivation. Burn something on the grill, mow your lawn in shorts, black socks and sandals then go endure the carnies at the fair. If you don’t, you’ll miss out and it will already be time for a column I’ve planned for next September which will be titled Fast Winter.

Posted by Grant Nelson at 11:30 AM CDT | Post Comment | Permalink
Updated: Tuesday, 13 May 2008 2:04 PM CDT

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