CHAPTER XIII.
DOOR-STEP PARTY AND QUIET GAMES FOR HOT WEATHER.
IN the State of Kentucky, in one of whose towns the writer’s early childhood was spent, the summers are long, and frequently very hot spells occur when even in the early morning hours there is no refreshing coolness in the air. As the sun rises higher and higher in the heavens, its rays grow fiercer and fiercer, until by afternoon, the heat is so intense that few persons care to venture out of doors, unless compelled by business or necessity to do so.
At dusk, however, after the heat of the day is spent, and the air, although not cool, is a degree or two less hot, the population of the town makes itself visible. Ladies and children clad in the thinnest of white and light colored muslin gowns, emerge from the houses to sit upon piazza and door-step, and there welcome the husband, father, and brothers of the family upon their return from business; that business which is never neglected no matter what the thermometer may register. After tea the door-steps are once more taken possession of, and to enter the house again until ready to retire for the night, is not to be thought of. Friends and neighbors making social calls are received and entertained informally upon the door-steps, and sometimes when the party becomes too large for the steps to accommodate, chairs are placed upon the pavement immediately in front of the door, and no one feels, while occupying one of these seats, that the position is at all public or conspicuous.
Hatless and bonnetless as all of the ladies and children are, the warmth of the evenings making all head coverings and extra wraps unnecessary and uncomfortable, the streets present a gay and fête-like appearance seldom seen in our eastern towns.