Near Summer on Main

Mid-June in Tidewater is usually very hot and humid,

sometimes more like the dog days of summer

instead of the gently warming days of late spring.

But this year June has been very cool,

so even though we celebrated the Summer Solstice

last night in the seven o'clock hour,

our "near summer" walk down Main Street in Smithfield, Virginia a few days ago

was more like a pleasant day in spring.

A stroll down Main Street reveals a bit of the town's sense of style and sense of humor.

Besides colorful trims and other 19th-century details on many of the buildings,

like these unusual twin chimneys:

there is this hogly homage to the town's commercial  history:

Here's a porcine fellow with an artistic flair: 

And on his other side, a depiction of two bubble-gum pink pigs in debtor's stocks,

a nod to the town's colonial history:

Of course, besides little piggies,

cheery flowers of summer are there to greet shoppers, too:

 Whether on Smithfield's Main Street or some other sunny place,

summertime has officially arrived.

So "roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" and let the fun begin!

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