"I Spent July 4th watching I Love Lucy"

Tucson painting by Felix Pasilis
July 5th, 2008, 6:03 am
"I Spent July 4th watching I Love Lucy"

Well it is July 5th, the day after July 4th. I survived July 4th LOL. The day is 100 times more intense and longer because now they close the public swim pools on July 4th so there is no breaking up the day with long refreshing swim. Bill very sensibly went to an air conditioned movie. But I just stayed home on that long space-y day. Instead of the evening bringing relief, a thunderstorm arrived at exactly 7:15 pm, happily when Bill was on the way home from movies. Because little Beanie is scared of the thunder and scared of the rain. Bill told me Beanie is scared of water. So first he was scared of all the thunder we got, then he was scared of the rain pouring down. And then after 2 hours of being scared of either the thunder or the rain, they alternated, just when it would have been safe to come out, the fireworks began. Beanie is scared of fireworks.

He is fine now, doing somersaults across the house and splits, and going on his back on the big rug and wriggling and writhing and putting his legs up in air. But last evening he spent every instant of it running for cover. It was so pathetic because he would not stay in any hidey hole. All he had to do was choose one of his hidey holes in the house and stay in it, but that is not what he did. He spent the entire evening going from hidey hole to hidey hole. I said to Bill “it’s all so ridiculous, because in reality no one could be safer than Bean. The rain won’t get him, the thunder won’t get him, the fireworks won’t get him, he is perfectly safe every instant.” Bill said “I know, but that is not what is going on in his little mind.” And I knew I was looking at myself. I thought “I am just like Beanie, running for cover when I get scared, and the reality is I am safe all the time. I am safe all the time but as Bill said about Beanie, that is not what is going on in my little mind.”

Finally all the thunder stopped, all the rain stopped, all the fireworks stopped. And Beanie and I fell asleep. He slept next to my bed. I don’t know whether Bill listened to Coast-to-Coast on the radio or fell asleep too.

It was a long intense July 4th. But I liked it better than many of the other July 4ths I have had, because I kept it so simple, and I was very relaxed in the early part of afternoon. The heat put me right to sleep, there were long relaxed naps, and tv had “I Love Lucy” marathon. And one episode was so exquisite, when it ended I thought “this is bliss.” It is very relaxing on a long intense July 4th to spend it all with Lucy and Ricky and Ethel and Fred. I watched that show as kid living with my family, back when my bedtime was 9 PM and “I Love Lucy” came on at 9 PM on Monday evenings. And so I said to my mom “if you let me stay up for ‘I Love Lucy’ I will go to bed at 8:30 on Tuesdays.” I don’t remember ever actually going to bed at 8:30 on Tuesdays, but she did let me stay up for ‘I Love Lucy’ every Monday. So for me the show resonates with the 1950s. There is a winter coat Ricky wears in it, my dad had the same one. There is something about Ricky in those shows which brings it all back. Lucy and Ethel and Fred all seem timeless, but Ricky brings back my dad in the 1950s, he makes that world live again for me.

And the show is stunningly down to earth in a lot of ways. Whenever they all go off to the restaurant together, sit down, look at the menu, decide what they will order, it is all so familiar and lifelike from those times. I guess every family watching it back then saw their family. The dialogue is just what went on. A lot of the bits of ordinary life before it flips into a zany drama, really are how ordinary life was, it is very real. Which is why usually those are my favorite parts now. Very few episodes actually work for me, altho the one which ended in middle of afternoon, where I said “exquisite!” at the ending, and turned over in bliss, and thought “life is good.” Of course it had zaniness too, but the ending was exquisite and the whole start of it perfectly lovely.

I’m sure when I watched it at 8 years old, I did not see any resemblance in Ricky and Lucy to Marion and Leon. I just spent the whole time back then identifying with Lucy myself. But now when I watch it the world of Marion and Leon back then, is always called forth.

In an episode yesterday I noticed they all made each other laugh. They do such a classy job that it is imperceptible, that they surprised themselves by bursting into laughter and then tried to control it. For some reason when each said their line, it caused the others to giggle. I didn’t know why? I thought ‘they must have rehearsed it, they knew this line was coming,’ but it just tickled them when it was said. It was sweet watching that bona fide unscripted laughing take over their face, watching their joy bubble out.

Well maybe it doesn’t say much for my life that the high point of my July 4th was an exquisite episode of “I Love Lucy.” But it was the only time I completely relaxed, I just turned over and said “thank you” to the universe. LOL I’m not mad that July 4th was long hot intense day, all the days are like that this summer. It’s just that yesterday had no escape, there was no swim, there was no outing. And it climaxed with scared little doggie, nothing we could do would settle him down.

It’s no wonder I figured out on my fingers that it is exactly mid-summer for Tucson school children, in 6 weeks they go back to school, and psychologically summer is over even if the heat is with us for another two months. Yesterday was the day I wanted to know an end was in sight.

And when Bill got back from the movie theater and we sat in the living room having conversation to try to calm down Beanie, that was our favorite part of the conversation. “6 weeks till the kids go back to school!” “7 weeks till the first football game!” Bill said. Talking about the start of football season is how we keep our spirits up when it seems like there is no end in sight. Then we say all the games which will happen in September. “Of course it will still be hot in Tucson” Bill said. “Of course” I said “but psychologically, it will be Fall, even if we don’t get it.” And he says how Wisconsin and Minnesota will be having real Fall.

July 5th is always when we start to beckon Fall when you live on the desert.