In a dramatic display of “necessity is the mother of invention,” I draped a lavender sheet across my six-foot kitchen garden window. The pull-down shade, that had kept the midday sunshine to a minimum, had to be put out to pasture after the Altadena fires covered it in toxic ash.
Somehow I never got around to replacing it and have enjoyed the shrubs my neighbor planted along the fence that divides our properties. As they grew tall and lush, I began thinking maybe I didn’t need a shade after all.
That was before the recent triple-digit temperatures proved me wrong. The sun galloped through the west-facing garden window with such intensity that the kitchen was hot enough to boil the water for my morning tea. Even with the air conditioning on, the heat of the room prevailed.
Members of my cow collection that graze across the middle glass shelf of the window began complaining. Who could blame them? The sweat forming on the shelf beneath their hooves had turned into pools of water that the cows were sliding in. Cowlet, the small one, dropped off the edge of the shelf, where he had perched in a sitting position for years, and slid into the kitchen sink below. I bathed the little guy in cool water and sat him on a counter tile that was shaded from the direct sun.
The rest of the herd glared at me as they floated in the sweat, switzing (Jewish word for lots of sweat). Filled with guilt and now switzing myself, I realized the time for action had arrived. So I did the only thing that made sense. I grabbed a sheet, folded it in half, draped it across the window, and fastened each end to the existing hooks with bag clips.
While it won’t make the cover of House Beautiful, it solved the immediate problem with an unexpected reward. When the sun hit the translucent sheet, the cows turned into lavender shadow dancers moving gracefully across the window. Of course we now know they were slip-sliding in the sweat, but for a brief moment I viewed it as ballet.
Since this whole episode was not what you would call a plan-ahead event, I neglected to notice that the cows, although they were making lovely designs behind the sheet, were not protected from the sun on the outside of the window. I’m thinking maybe I could cover them with pillowcases.
This whole “necessity is the mother of invention” philosophy has really hit home for me. I’m going to check the linen closet to see if I have any pillowcases that match the sheet hanging over my window. No worries, cow babies, mama’s on the job.
Email patriciabunin@sbcglobal.net. Follow her on Patriciabunin.com.