My life, I realize suddenly, is July. Childhood is June, and old age is August, but here it is, July, and my life, this year, is July inside of July. Rick Bass

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Picture above is a train depot on the Moors Railway at the British National Park

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

“Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don’t know what happened on either occasion.”
–  Mark Twain

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Hey I’m back….still trying to get stuff sorted out from a month and a half away from home and responsibility.  I am so tempted to run away again….but first let’s do my Droughtlander survival bit and then a look at July…..in the heat of the day and the steam of the night.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

WALLY’S DAILY SPECIALS

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

He was laughing so hard at this point that he had to gasp for breath between phrases. “Jamie…I said…for all she’s a Sassenach bitch…with a tongue like an adder’s …with a bum like that…what does it matter if she’s a f-face like a sh-sh-eep?”

I tripped him neatly and landed on his stomach with both knees as he hit the floor with a crash that shook the house.

“You mean to tell me that you married me out of love?” I demanded. He raised his eyebrows, struggling to draw in breath.

“Have I not…just been…saying so?”
― Diana Gabaldon, Outlander   

HELP to get you through Droughtlander:  http://jeannedegouges.tumblr.com/

and the spoils of marriage ( I could see how being married to James Alexander Malcomb McKenzie could spoil you for other men…:

http://blog.outlanderhomepage.com/p/waterweed.html

  “What is it, love?” I whispered. “Jamie, I do love you.”
“I know it,” he said quietly. “I do know it, my own. Let me tell ye in your sleep how much I love you. For there’s no so much I can be saying to ye while ye wake, but the same poor words, again and again. While ye sleep in my arms, I can say things to ye that would be daft and silly waking, and your dreams will know the truth of them. Go back to sleep, mo duinne.”
I turned my head, enough that my lips brushed the base of his throat, where his pulse beat slow beneath the small three-cornered scar. Then I laid my head upon his chest and gave my dreams up to his keeping.

Chapter 45: Damn All Randalls –

Dragon Fly in Amber

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The Saxons knew July as Lida oeftevr (the mild month) which brings the long, warm evenings of summer perfect for the outdoors (Wicca Book of Days/Morgan)—In Florida its more like HOT, but in the UK warm would seem more likely—even tempered with a bit of chilly and cooler than usual which was what I saw there in May and June.

Of course in the states we celebrate July 4th our Independence Day with that same UK—which eventually became one of our closest allies….It’s a day of picnics, wearing and flying the red, white and blue and nights of fireworks and firecrackers.  But what else does July do or mean, at this time when it is almost half gone I thought I’d investigate that.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

“Answer July—
Where is the Bee—
Where is the Blush—
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July—
Where is the Seed—
Where is the Bud—
Where is the May—
Answer Thee—Me—”
–  Emily Dickinson, Answer July 

While Walter Payton (Hall of fame Running Back for D’BEARS) was born in July (7/25/1954), Jim Morrison (Rock poet, lead man for the doors and down right symbol of the excess) died in July (7/3/1971) in Paris.  According to Tod Benoit in WHERE ARE THEY BURIED?  no one saw the body but a Dr. Max Vassille and his girlfriend Pam (Jim’s not the doctors).  He said that Morrison was drunk and jumped into his bath and the sudden change of temperature caused a heart attack…or as Benoit says:  “Yeah, the whole thing smells fishy to me, too.”

Others that made headlines in July

Peter Sellers (Died 7/24/80) in London/heart attack

Ginger Rogers (born 7/16/1911) Film star and dancing partner

Davey Allison (Died 7/13/1993) This Nascar driver and member of the legendary Allison family ended his life not in a car but in a helicopter he was piloting.

Ty Cobb (Died 7/19/1961) a Base Ball legend that ended being worth millions.

Bruce Lee (Died 7/20/1973)the Kung Fu hero was felled by a brain aneurysm, possibly prompted by an allergic reaction to a pain medication supplied by the actress who’s apartment in which he was found dead.

Princess Diana (born 7/1/1961) the daughter of an earl, and born into one of the most aristocratic families in Britain, she married a prince, bore two children and then divorced the same prince…She ended her days in a car accident which also took the life of her Egyptian-born businessman/movie producer lover and their legally drunk–per a French court’s findings—driver).  Sadly the two might well still be with us if they had been wearing their seat belts.

“Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers.”
–  Sara Coleridge, Pretty Lessons in Verse  

July Is a very Independent month–in fact all of these countries have Independence (I only am listing the independence days–there’s lots of revolution, Freedom etc too.) Days in the month.

1st:  Burundi & Rwanda (Africia)

4th USA

5th:  Algeria, Cape Verde and Venezuela

6th:  Comras (a group of islands scattered across the Indian Ocean)

7th:  Solomon Islands

9th:  Argentina and Bahamas

17th:  Slovakia (a land locked Central European country between Poland and the Ukraine)

19th:  Laos

20th:  Columbia

26th:  Liberia, Maldives (an island country and archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of India and Sri Lanka) and Puerto Rio

28th:  Peru

30th:  Vanuatu (a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific)

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.

Neil Armstrong

and then there’s:

the fact that July’s color is red, (so we got part of that right for the Fourth) except in Thailand where it’s pink, so the theme colors for parties etc. is naturally scarlet.

On July 6 in 1885 a nine year old boy was given a basically untested (on humans at least) rabies vaccine—and it worked…..and mad dogs and French men will never be the same since.

On average July is usually the warmest month in England.

STRANGE DAYS is a vintage motorcycle show, camping, live music, and all around party that takes place in the scenic rolling hills of Vernon, NJ in July.

Strange Days in July is also a novel by  Glory Dreygon about two normal kids who just want to relax over summer vacation. When they discover a pebble on the beach that just won’t sink, the two bring it home to examine. Little did they know, the pebble held portal to a parallel universe, and the events that follow change their lives forever.

July is (to name a few)

Eggplant and Lettuce Month

• Family Golf Month
• Family Reunion Month

• Freedom from Fear of Speaking Month

• International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month
• International Zine Month (Zines are self-published, small-circulation, often nonprofit books, papers, or websites. They usually deal with topics too controversial or niche for mainstream media, presented in an unpolished layout and unusual design)
• Mango and Melon Month
• National Anti-Boredom Month
• National Blueberry Month
• National Cellphone Courtesy Month
• National Child-Centered Divorce Month
• National Doghouse Repairs Month
• National Hemochromatosis Awareness Month (Hemochromatosis is an iron disorder in which the body simply loads too much iron. This action is genetic and the excess iron, if left untreated, can damage joints http://www.hemochromatosis.org/#overview )
• National Horseradish Month
• National Share a Sunset with Your Lover Month
• Nectarine and Garlic Month
• Women’s Motorcycle Month
• 

I always have the most fun on the Fourth of July.
You don’t have to exchange any gifts.
You just go to the beach and watch fireworks.
It’s always fun.
– James Lafferty

I believe cats to be spirits come to earth.
A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.
– Jules Verne

Not July I know but Jules is close in spelling at least.

and in July 1848, Verne left Nantes again for Paris, where his father intended him to finish law studies and take up law as a profession. He obtained permission from his father to rent a furnished apartment at 24 Rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie, which he shared with Édouard Bonamy, another student of Nantes origin.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne