Eleven years ago today

It was hot. The stupid Diesel generators had been throbbing and spewing fumes around the clock for days. Every time we'd go outdoors to sit to hear a ball game or listen to the radio for any reason, they'd pay us money to turn off the radio and sometimes to go back indoors. But it was hot, very hot. It was the summer of Jennifer Pena's first big hit, "Ven a mi." The hordes of people attracted to the filming were all pretty creepy. For years afterward amidst the shrubbery we'd find empty cans and bottles that once held small-brewery beer or ale. At least we had made the outfit filming pay us for running cable through the yard and got a payment for our elderly next-door neighbor on the other side, similarly inconvenienced. We'd been offered a free hotel room while the filming continued, and continued, and continued, but we had thought it wise to be on hand to prevent depredations, and we were wise, preserving a lot of landscape that would otherwise have been sacrificed. Nobody else seemed to be interested in the very beautiful vintage LaFrance pumper that was going to make rain for the set, but we did a lot of talking to the owner. He made rain for us in our yard that night; our yard was s-o-o much cooler afterward, and so were we. I never remember the date, but for K. it's a very important anniversary.