Post by artraveler on Aug 18, 2020 6:30:20 GMT -8
The Golden Hour
In the South, August is a hot month. The accumulation of heat from July spills over and makes August seem even hotter than it is. I suppose that is why we refer to the “dog days of August”. However, there is another element to August and that is what I call a golden hour.
When I was in school, August was the last fling before school began. In those days schools in Fayetteville always started the day after Labor Day. The University always started classes the week before Labor Day. August was the time when we had to get in all of the activities we enjoyed. Fishing was one of the best in those days. We would get up early, just at sunrise, and make our way to Lake Fayetteville. Just north of town between Fayetteville and Springdale.
The dam faced east and as the sun rose the fish got more active. We would set our lines for about four feet and the bobbers would start hopping. Crappie, and bluegill about hand size with an occasional smallmouth bass on a line reserved for minnows and cast further out, even the infrequent catfish. The temperature was in the low to mid 60s but that would change quickly as the sun cleared any mist from the lake. But for an hour, perhaps two, the fish were active, and our stringers got filled.
By about 0900 the action was over for the day. We generally gave the stringers of crappie and bluegill to kids, or released them, with any bass or catfish. The coolness of the morning was passing, and temperature climbed into the 80s by noon. This is the time Southerners seek the comfort of air conditioning. We knew that a 90/90 day was in store (90 degrees and 90% humidity). Lunch was at one of the local hangouts. The Viv-Mon on north college was a favorite.
This was in the days before the arches were in town and traditional drive ins were still around. Vic-Mon was a drive-in similar to Sonic today. They sold almost everything, but their burgers were the best. After lunch, the day took us to indoors and bowling at Ozark Lanes was next.
Ozark was a 24-lane bowling house and during the day lane fees were discounted to .25 per line for employees and league members that was further dropped to .10 per line. We bowled in three leagues at Ozark, 10 lines for a buck. This took us through the hottest part of the day. With plans for the evening. We often went home to clean up and would make plans to meet up for the evening. If a movie was considered it was at the 71-drive-in theater, also on north college.
We would arrive before the gate opened, just about sunset. This was another golden hour. In august the heat of the day passed quickly, and the temperature would drop into the 70s very quickly. The movie was seldom of any great quality, often an Elvis double feature. Truthfully, being there was an excuse to drink. And that was one thing we did. My friend Steve had been partially crippled by polio and had to use crutches. A drunk using crutches could be very funny to a carload of teenagers. Steve took it well and is a Baptist Pastor in Plano Texas. I guess the trauma was not serious.
With some variations this was typical of our August days before school started. It only lasted a couple of summers. Summer jobs, girls and graduation from high school changed it all. We moved on to other things. My friends ghosts still haunt the places we gathered. Ozark Lanes is still there, as is Lake Fayetteville the Vic-Mon is gone replaced by a fine burger place, Felter Brothers. The 71 drive-in is long gone but we still have a drive-in theater, the 112 drive in, one of the last in the nation.
I don’t fish anymore but I do rise early this time of year. I take a cup of coffee and the dog out early to enjoy the golden hour. Perhaps in your part of the country you have opportunity to savor that early hour of the morning. Enjoy it, cherish it and know that there is no better reason to be alive.
In the South, August is a hot month. The accumulation of heat from July spills over and makes August seem even hotter than it is. I suppose that is why we refer to the “dog days of August”. However, there is another element to August and that is what I call a golden hour.
When I was in school, August was the last fling before school began. In those days schools in Fayetteville always started the day after Labor Day. The University always started classes the week before Labor Day. August was the time when we had to get in all of the activities we enjoyed. Fishing was one of the best in those days. We would get up early, just at sunrise, and make our way to Lake Fayetteville. Just north of town between Fayetteville and Springdale.
The dam faced east and as the sun rose the fish got more active. We would set our lines for about four feet and the bobbers would start hopping. Crappie, and bluegill about hand size with an occasional smallmouth bass on a line reserved for minnows and cast further out, even the infrequent catfish. The temperature was in the low to mid 60s but that would change quickly as the sun cleared any mist from the lake. But for an hour, perhaps two, the fish were active, and our stringers got filled.
By about 0900 the action was over for the day. We generally gave the stringers of crappie and bluegill to kids, or released them, with any bass or catfish. The coolness of the morning was passing, and temperature climbed into the 80s by noon. This is the time Southerners seek the comfort of air conditioning. We knew that a 90/90 day was in store (90 degrees and 90% humidity). Lunch was at one of the local hangouts. The Viv-Mon on north college was a favorite.
This was in the days before the arches were in town and traditional drive ins were still around. Vic-Mon was a drive-in similar to Sonic today. They sold almost everything, but their burgers were the best. After lunch, the day took us to indoors and bowling at Ozark Lanes was next.
Ozark was a 24-lane bowling house and during the day lane fees were discounted to .25 per line for employees and league members that was further dropped to .10 per line. We bowled in three leagues at Ozark, 10 lines for a buck. This took us through the hottest part of the day. With plans for the evening. We often went home to clean up and would make plans to meet up for the evening. If a movie was considered it was at the 71-drive-in theater, also on north college.
We would arrive before the gate opened, just about sunset. This was another golden hour. In august the heat of the day passed quickly, and the temperature would drop into the 70s very quickly. The movie was seldom of any great quality, often an Elvis double feature. Truthfully, being there was an excuse to drink. And that was one thing we did. My friend Steve had been partially crippled by polio and had to use crutches. A drunk using crutches could be very funny to a carload of teenagers. Steve took it well and is a Baptist Pastor in Plano Texas. I guess the trauma was not serious.
With some variations this was typical of our August days before school started. It only lasted a couple of summers. Summer jobs, girls and graduation from high school changed it all. We moved on to other things. My friends ghosts still haunt the places we gathered. Ozark Lanes is still there, as is Lake Fayetteville the Vic-Mon is gone replaced by a fine burger place, Felter Brothers. The 71 drive-in is long gone but we still have a drive-in theater, the 112 drive in, one of the last in the nation.
I don’t fish anymore but I do rise early this time of year. I take a cup of coffee and the dog out early to enjoy the golden hour. Perhaps in your part of the country you have opportunity to savor that early hour of the morning. Enjoy it, cherish it and know that there is no better reason to be alive.
