Sherri Adams

We are rapidly approaching the dog days of summer, those sagging days when it’s too hot and the kids are crabby … to say nothing of Mom.

My creativity has just about run out; I can’t come up with another idea for home-made frozen treats, or 7 clever things to do with sidewalk chalk, or tips for getting your kids to clean the house with you and think it’s fun … I just want to plonk them in front of the TV, pour myself a cold beer, and sit on the couch with a good book.

But of course I don’t … or at least, I save the beer for the evening hours. The plonking, sitting, reading … yeah, I’ve done that once or twice in the last week. I’m in the middle of a terrific book at the moment, “Never Surrender” by Michael Dobbs. It’s the second of his historical novels about Winston Churchill, and deals with the beginning of his stint as British Prime Minister at the outset of World War II.

I don’t know much about that period of British history, so I can’t say whether or not Dobb’s books are historically accurate, but they certainly ring true. What a moody and difficult old guy he was! Hated by most of his Cabinet, mistrusted by the top military brass, but loved by most of the everyday British folk. It’s a great book, full of political intrigue and the cross-weaving of several stories.

Well OK, I’ve procrastinated enough. The one destination all of us can agree on; me, Ketchup, and Mustard, is the swimming pool. So I’m going to tear myself away from the couch, and them away from the TV, and we’re going for a swim. Hopefully Bun can join us a little later if things are going smoothly at the restaurant.