Hot Fun in the Summertime

The mercury is cranking up here in central PA, and I have to tell you straight out that I'm not a fan of the heat. Once it gets to about mid-80s F, I'm done for. And the humidity has been obscene here. (It's not just the heat, it's the stupidity, as they say.) So it was that we went to one of our swimming holes at Bald Eagle State Park, and it was warm enough in the car that sweat was running down my face before I even got there! Um, nope, not a fan!

But I felt better once I was sitting by the lake and enjoying a little breeze now and again, and some shade. There were people there, but it wasn't a lot of people because it wasn't the weekend or a holiday. And they looked so scenic to me, just colorful dots along the shore. Give me some sand and water and some people, and my hands and eyes and heart and camera try to turn me into Seurat.

The water, upon our approach, looked like turquoise seas, and I am not exaggerating at all. It isn't like the Mediterranean here; no, not at all. But the water is pretty, and the shades of blue and green will please you, for sure. Just looking at water made me feel better. Once I got in, the water temp seemed a bit lower than last time, and it was cleaner, which was lovely.

I'll warn you that the outdoor showers are cold enough that they'll give you one of those ice cream headaches in seconds. Oh, and if you want ice cream, you can buy PSU Berkey Creamery ice cream at the snack bar for about $2.50 a scoop, but I don't think it's open every day. Probably just weekends and holidays - I'm sorry, I didn't check.

The bad news, however, is that the gypsy moths, or spongy moths as they are called now, have invaded Bald Eagle State Park. If you look closer at the picture above, you can see some missing swaths of green in the trees across the lake. There weren't a lot of trees in the beach area, but we still had caterpillars land on us, and caterpillar poo. Not so great, actually. Otherwise, pretty fun!

A quick sidebar here. If you want to feel better about your body, go to the beach. Okay, the part about putting on a bathing suit may not make you feel better. (Does it make ANYbody happy to parade around in tiny strips of fabric after about the age of 25?) But you will witness a diversity of body shapes that will relieve you. Big and little, skinny and zaftig, regular and unusual, the world's shapes will parade before you. And you know what, that's all right!

Here is a song for summertime: Nick Gilder, with Hot Child in the City. And here's one for the body shapes brave enough to show up on the beach: Elvis, with That's All Right.