Walt is our prompter today and gives us this quote to inspire us. Alas! I did not take it the way he perhaps meant it and painted my poem in very broad strokes – but it’s true. Come join us for Day #3 of dVerse’s Fifth Year Anniversary Celebration. “I am cold, even though the heat of early summer is adequate. I am cold because I cannot find my heart.” ~Sebastian Barry from his novel A Long, Long Way
Closed Until Autumn
In truth, the heat has moved from…adequate
to over-achieving. The weatherman smiles as he says,
Today it will be 101F but feels like 107F
Feels like?
What’s up with that? Just give us the temp of 107,
I mutter under my breath.
And it is official. The kitchen is closed
until September.
Oh, anything that can be done in the slow-cooker
(such as amazing meatloaf, or a fresh vegetable stew
or chicken with fresh herbs or blackberry cobbler).
Salads and towering club sandwiches or
cold and creamy chicken salad and devilled eggs.
and pasta made from angel hair pasta
because it cooks in less than 5 minutes –
that incredible uncooked sauce made with fresh
summer tomatoes and herbs and olive oil mixed with
the hothothot pasta…
or omelettes or veggies that steam in the microwave
None of those hot horrible soups or stews or roasts…
No cooking over a fire hot grill out in the fire hot day.
Nope.
I’ve purposely lost my heart for cooking until autumn.
And while we are on autumn,
I must ask, in what part of the arctic circle
does a person live when they talk about the end of summer
being here? Really?
Ha! end of summer? Summer is just cranking up where I live.
It feels like 107F
Honey, it IS 107…
public domain image
kanzen sakura 
Jul 20, 2016 @ 11:37:06
Ah, bless that dog – exactly how I feel! It’s been hot here too, although rain is forecast for tomorrow. I love the humour and easy-goingness of this poem – quite, quite different from your usual fare. You’re having fun and it shows!
Jul 20, 2016 @ 11:39:18
Thank you. But it is true, every single word and honestly, that uncooked pasta sauce is to die for….
Jul 20, 2016 @ 15:54:02
Oh I can understand this… even though we have not as hot as you… using the slow cooker is definitely not Ok… Love the thought of anything fresh and cool anyway… But soon I’m going north… I recon the first signs of autumn might show, though usually frost will not come till the beginning of September,…. and winter ended in May…
Jul 20, 2016 @ 15:58:40
This is soo lovely.. I admire the soft and easy tone.. the wit and playful humor and oh that pasta sauce sounds so inviting ❤ I do hope it rains there soon 🙂 xo
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Jul 20, 2016 @ 16:14:23
Here in WA state, so far, we hover in the 70’s , alternating rain with blue skies; a nearly perfect summer (knock on real wood). Your prose poem is delightful.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:27:02
Glenn, it is brutal here. I am glad you are in WA state. I don’t know if your poor system would survive here. It is mean.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 16:50:30
Just reading your poem made me feel like I was melting, Toni, and it isn’t anywhere near as hot over here!
Jul 20, 2016 @ 17:07:12
I’m drooling and smiling. Hmmmmm, sounds like a dog. Great post and of course I love the photo 🙂
Jul 20, 2016 @ 18:47:12
5 minutes in the kitchen, that’s my kind of cooking, and the food you spoke about, a deliciously read. I love the dog photo.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:26:19
Isn’t that dog great? Yeah, 5 minutes…sometimes 8.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 18:51:45
That’s very hot, whew. Best to make cold salads and sandwiches. Your food images are making me hungry.
And that photo made smile. Drink lots of cool and iced juices & water Toni!!!
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:25:39
I will and do Grace. I feel like a camel I am sucking down so much liquid. Even with air conditioning, it is just too much to do long cooking and the thought of hot food makes me ill. Wish I could crawl inside a head of lettuce and hide until Autumn.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 19:03:22
Good response to the challenge, Toni. You found something in the quote to express and that’s all I required. As always, done quite well!
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:24:27
Thank you Walter. I just wasn’t up for being sad. My mom isn’t doing well and I just did not want to go to the sad place.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 19:03:33
“And it is official. The kitchen is closed” … Ha. I hear that!
Blackberry cobbler … man, that sounds yummy.
“I’ve purposely lost my heart for cooking” … Really great poem.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:23:44
Thank you so much, But you have little ones dependent on you for food. But happy to share an easy recipe for a dessert that is childishly simple and you can forget about for 3 hours. Just let me know. I’m not a sandwich for dinner kind of person but this summer….yeah baby. Once a week.
Jul 20, 2016 @ 19:29:19
You’ve convinced me! (And the picture of the flaked-out dog makes it definite.) But you also make me hungry!
Jul 20, 2016 @ 23:22:13
I do that a lot with my poetry. As an old retired chef, food is my….thing. The dog is exactly how I feel these days. and it is just too darn hot.
Jul 21, 2016 @ 10:17:52
Or rule here is “if it’s hot enough to turn on the A/C, the oven stays off. I do a fair bit of BBQing, but I might even refuse to do that if it was 107 here.
Jul 21, 2016 @ 11:32:54
this is a delightful read…
Jul 21, 2016 @ 11:33:59
I LOVE this photo and your take on the prompt. Yep — no stove, no oven. I do like cold strawberry soup 🙂
Jul 21, 2016 @ 11:38:43
And I love cold cuke soup and gazpacho. I am almost through my container of cuke soup. Had fresh corn on the cob last night that I nuked. So so good. Hubs ate take out ribs, I ate corn and sliced garden tomatoes. Ate like a queen!
Jul 21, 2016 @ 11:56:54
You are a kindred soul! We make a meal of corn on the cob and tomatoes with mozzarella slices and fresh basil! And we are a quick walk from my favorite spot to get ribs and coleslaw! 😊❤️
Jul 21, 2016 @ 12:04:25
Did a lovely variation on a Career salad for lunch today, thinly sliced cucumber, tomato, homemade mozzarella with fresh basil and flat leaf parsley…out of my garden. Drizzled with balsamic reduction. Flat bread…I think I will have that again for dinner while hubs finishes off the ribs. Yeah, that is the ticket!
Jul 21, 2016 @ 12:19:46
Yum!!!