I'm already thinking of fall (so I can shed this Hippie image)

It's the eve of August and the sun is like a god, dictating and bearing down on us like a not so benevolent ruler. It's no wonder that the Egyptians elevated that bright ball of gas as the supreme deity called Ra.  So far there's no sacrifice that appeases his force of power over our heads.  But God is merciful because after three weeks of sweaty living in a home with a  broken central air conditioner, the Happy Hoppins Family (that's us) are sitting in complete comfort.  The unit has been serviced and saved.  We have been spared a $7,000 bill.   That is why right now at this moment the house is back to a state of comfortable clean.  One day, just for fun, and to celebrate the accomplishment of a clean house, I put on my swim suit and a handmade sundress and sat outside with the children and their friends while I made a craft and watched them swim.  Richard took one look at me said that I'd officially become a hippie.  My girlfriend, who watched as I turned my hand dyed t shirts into a woven rug, agreed.

Later, while I was alone, I looked in the mirror and wondered if that was true.  Have I become a hippie? 

I don't feel like a hippie.  I don't partake in the smoking or eating of natural herbs (although some days...boy do I wish!)  I like folk music, rock and have to admit that Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young is one of my favorite songs.  I'm a pacifist...which means that I oppose war, but I'm also learning how to be a better pacifist at home and not engage in heated, loud arguments with my family members.  I'm a pacifist but if you catch me on a bad day, you might think that statement makes me a tiny bit hypocritical.

I have a handmade business and I like to grow food in my little garden.  The bugs ate most of it, so I still do shop in a regular grocery store and not a whole foods organic type market.  My kids have eaten pretty much anything they like.

I like to take a shower every day and I also shave my legs.  (Emily says that this alone makes me not a very good candidate for hippie status).

I once wrote a letter to congress pleading that money for World Hunger efforts didn't get cut out of the budget.  But I've never marched on Washington for any reason.  I have visited D.C. in the spring and it was so lovely that I plan to go back, at least to see the flowering cherry trees given to the U.S. from Japan and to visit the Natural History Museum.

I like to make art, or at least my version of art, which may or may not be REAL art.

I've stopped coloring my hair (a picture of my graying progress will be revealed sometime next month for those who've been following that bit of info).       
I only wear makeup if I feel like it, but lately, I really could care less.  Blame it on that sun god, Ra.

Perhaps that will change when fall comes and I can assume my trusty northern girl image who wears jeans and hiking boots.