Water-filled nights

This song reminds me of a former residence from over a decade ago. I was a young mother with an overseas lover - and a violent ex lurking about. I had only lived in Australia for a few years, and was not then used to the steamy heat of summer down under. Summer in England had consisted of warm sunny days where you might tan if you were lucky, and sat outside semi-naked for six or seven hours each time the sun shone. Summer in Australia was a completely different matter. Not stopping where it did on an English thermometer, that mercury crawled higher and higher, until ice cubes were an essential rather than a drink additive. After spending several hours of the day slopping on gobs of white cream or staying inside so as not to have to wear even the thinnest of sleeves, the nights were a relief.

My son would have been in bed by six or seven, and I would play radio or cassettes and doze, watch TV soapies, documentaries, or maybe a movie. Alternatively, I might just sit on my stoop and plait excessively long blades of grass into endless strings, hoping that by the time I had dealt with all the grass available I would find some use for the strands. Sipping iced water or cordial, or a beer taken straight from the fridge, the disappearance of the sun and the added chilled fluids would be relaxing.

On some occasions, I got together with the man who lived next door. We might share a few beers, watch a movie or video, or on some very hot summer nights take a garden hose and enjoy the abundance of water with a friendly hose fight. Our dog liked hose water too. If I hosed the back lawn, it would leap up at the stream of water and snap at it, trying to bite it.

Those memories are long gone now. We had to find a new home for our dog when we fled interstate to escape my violent ex. Our current neighbors are friendly, but not the type to play games with hoses in the front yard and amuse the other neighbors at the instant wet T-shirt/pants contest on view. Water is scarce where we currently live; we are not even supposed to use hosepipes any longer. But this song reminds me of those pleasant summer nights from the early 90s.