Start of Porch Season

At last, ma cherie, it is time for the languid and curried hours of porch love---oh, how we have missed you, fickle mistress, during your endless stay in your sister Persephone's guest cottage in Hades, finally over until October.

Yet you taunt us in February, a lozenge of warmth from two until five on a Wednesday afternoon, only to flit off again with the giggle of a teenage girl--so cruel, yet so delicious. It helped me remember the winter sun in the tropics, also gold and cool, burnishing the world with an amber glow before suddenly slipping away behind a man-o-war cloud.

In March there were a few false starts, one splendid stretch on a Saturday afternoon that tanned the tops of my feet, and I succumbed to the decadence completely by dozing off for an hour or so. My anxiety was gently treated by these brief embraces and promises of an extended stay soon, perhaps with your next visit. My role as the porch priestess was to keep the watch for the first hint of clear blue skies after one pm, have some urgent reading material ready, some cold and refreshing liquid tribute accessible, and position the solar seating at the correct angle to the position of the sun. I take my duties seriously.

Finally, Enchanted April, as you began to venture away from your winter digs more frequently, dragging out those last damp goodbyes with the Hades', with some hail and sideways freezing rainy days tossed in just because you can, because your games always turn out so beautifully in May, because you know we can't help ourselves that we love you, tolerate the infidelity each fall, and will always make ready the best chambers in our hearts for you. That first day-long picnic with you in May, those endless warm days in June reading poetry from the inside of my eyelids to you while I hover in the still blue air---I live for this, and you know it.

Why do I fight you? So silly of me, but there is work for me to do, tasks of living with my feet on the ground that must be done, reading and cleaning and working for that coin and paper that mean so much down here. But you don't understand, you are the ultimate source of energy, of light, what makes everything else go.

I know it. And left the tropics in spite of it, and there are rare times when I remember that day of my first summer there, in early July, when the humidity was so high, and I had no shadow standing by that giant fuschia bouganvilla. I looked around and the sky was bleached white, there was no blue, yet no clouds at all, the light was coming from right over my head and pressed down like a white-hot anvil, the only shadows were lying deep under a giant banyan grove across the white coral dirt alley. There wasn't even a breath of air or breeze, the palm fronds hung heavy and slack like sweaty hands. Nothing moved, the white heat shimmered and I could feel my bones melting. Complete seduction, I was now forever a servant to the rays of the sun and follower of the changing light.

Day Two on Planet Demon Solar Inferno!

Day Two on Planet, 100-Degrees, Full Solar Array

Do all required missions and exploration of nearby alien villages before the demon solar inferno rises above a 45 degree angle to the horizon. While it is unadvisable to ingest the native fermented barley liquid while operating the valuable TerraLander equipment, it seems to be the preferred refreshing beverage among the aliens here in the most severe heat of the Terra Day. Must make notes for further investigation and possible experiments with this golden grain "water", that flows here like water does on our Home Planet. Instead of layering on more protective clothing to shield them from the demon solar inferno, the aliens reveal almost every fragment of their fragile skins, making almost a pretense of being clothed, whereupon they begin to burn, turn red and perspire what must surely be 100% "beer", the aliens' word for their fermented barley liquid. They appear to ingest little else during this demon solar season, and the shelves of their mercantile hubs are cleared of even the most inferior version of this "beer". As the demon solar inferno lowers below a 45 degree angle to the horizon, the aliens then proceed with another very curious custom, again specific to this heat season, of making flaming sacrifices to their gods, involving elaborate fire devices, slabs of sacred animals, fowl and even sea creatures, again accompanied by copious drinking of their ritual "beer". When their young are present, these sacrifices usually remain on the tame level, but when involving only sexually mature adults, utter mayhem predictably ensues, debauchery, staggering movements, unconscious jerking motions known to them as "dancing", and loud calls to nearby adult groups to "dragyerassover", whatever that may mean in the native dialect.
This planet does not appear to be technologically advanced to the level of inventing air conditioning, and seems content to suffer the demon solar inferno yearly, perhaps providing the aliens with a socially approved season of mass consumption of the chilled golden barley liquid in some sort of as yet not understood harvest festival ritual. Much further study is required here by the TerraTeamScientists to better understand this planet and its inhabitants, as well as some probable hands-on experiments with their curious substances they use ritually---for example:

bar-bee-cue sauce----blood-colored liquid poured onto the animal sacrifices-what does it mean?? More tribute to their demon solar fire gods?
mar-gar-ree-tah--pond water like liquid with crunchy salt crystals--why? which of their heathen gods does this worship?
poe-tay-toe-sal-id---easily prone to spoilage, this paste of ground-fruit chunks and various other vegetables in small pieces with a yellow and/or white gel of some kind is extremely popular, with local variations depending on regional preferences and how close the aliens are to discovering ice and other cold technologies. Usually containing eggs, must be some sort of fertility ritual food.

I will file the remainder of my daily report after spending more time amongst these aliens during this Demon Solar Inferno Day. One of the TerraTeam has to launch a ruthlessly thorough experiment with this golden barley liquid, and we are meeting in the lab to decide which of us will direct it. "Going Undercover in Full Disguise" will be required. As the demon solar inferno is climbing even higher on the horizon, I must sign off and begin my experiments for today. One is to construct a shade cloth to protect the fragile plantlings from the direct rays of the D.S.I. in our PlantLab, also to foray to the other TerraTeam outpost to feed and monitor the cats and plantlings at that PlantLab, and also to run a distance mission to the alien refugee mercantile hub where we have established a stealth location to monitor local alien buying habits and to acquire some of their currency. As always, the TerraTeam hopes the D.S.I. will not harm our equipment or sap all of our precious and endangered Terra Braincells and Neurosynapses. Perhaps the chilled "beer" provides some protection to the aliens in this regard.