Things are heating up

    Everybody seems to be talking about the heat wave, Rupert Murdoch and his  Crouching Tiger wife Wendy. I remember as a kid, the news of the day played no role in my life. I would wake, eat breakfast and make my way out the door. Summers on the reservation, we're really not that different from off the reservation. We had a community pool, a Boys and Girls club, and a beach. When the local pool began charging an entrance fee, we made our way to the local beach. A nice beach five minutes down the road from our place had a large slide into the river, a kid pool and a long dock.
     Around noon, my mom would show up with a bag of putter butter and jam sandwiches that would be gone in minutes. The beach would be get crowded by early afternoon, with many Italian and Greek families from the city. We would watch in utter fascination as they would set up camp with tablecloths, coolers of food and bottles of wine. As the day warmed up so did the loudness of the crowd. 
     What did I know about other people? Rarely did I go off the reservation except for school excursions, my friends and I watched in awe as the wine flowed, hands and fingers flying in all directions and their voices growing louder. I sat waiting for the dad to throw the first punch, something the never happened. 
       Now that I am married to a Greek guy I discovered it's just the milieu. My in-laws always grow loud and argue about anything all the time.  The beach action was friendly banter but for a kid like me who grew up in a home where banter of that sort usually ended in violence, sitting on the picnic table I anticipated the first punch.  Secretly, wishing the wife would hit the guy with the long baguette she was cutting.  
     Why am I thinking of this? All this fighting in the media sure heats up summer. Now, instead of waiting for the first punch I turn off the T.V. and walk out of the room.  I join my children out on the patio and watch in awe how they argue and fight and make-up.  Why pay an entrance fee when it's free.  Life is grand.