AS kids, a Pinch and a Punch for the First of the Month brought great and terrible delight. Little girls shrieking, giddy with release, naughtiness, our innate cruelty acceptable for just this moment, at being allowed to pinch and punch and “NO RETURNS” just this once. Hard. No-one ever does a pinch and a punch softly. And if you get the kick in before she yells No Returns that was followed by us all running screaming away flapping our arms like mad birds. Laughing. Out of control.
You only got to do it twelve times a year. I always forgot, never got in first. Always the bruised arm for me. A step behind. It does not mean I did not want to though, just forgot the date, of course. Humans are a strange study. Little girls even stranger.
The ancient versions of this game had punched witches and pinches of salt and kicks and rabbits in it. But in New Zealand in the sixties we played the truncated version. No witches there unless you count us girls!
The clouds lowered like a great lid above our heads yesterday, using up the air and turning up the humidity. Keeping out the light. Turning up the heat. No air. No movement. Every now and then the clouds released a few raindrops that floated down like imperceptible miniature balloons. They hung there in the air, these droplets. Weightless. I walked through them as I worked feeling them burst against my face.
The clouds slowly moving by, drifting from dark to more dark to less dark again. Gliding above our heads. Seamless. Up a stop then down again.
But no real change all day.
Later in the evening, before bedtime, and without warning, the clouds released a deluge of raindrops. They streamed down from the leaden sky, still no wind or comment just rain. We all stood without breathing the animals and I. Afraid to voice our pleasure in case the clouds were spiteful school girls and turned our much needed rain back off. 
We need the rain – the cows particularly, the fields have stopped growing in this dry. We got a few minutes of heavy rain, not a lot but everything was wetted down and I was grateful. Then thunder and lightening in a drying thickening sky and then nothing again. Just clouds sitting low above. Watching our secret smile.
I awoke this morning to fog and 57F. These cool nights are so lovely for sleeping.
Every day for the next ten there is a chance of rain. So hopefully we get a few more of these showers. Who knows.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
WEATHER: Clear for the most part today and warm.
Wednesday 08/01 20% / 0 in
Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night 08/01 10% / 0 in
A clear sky. Low 63F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Sun
5:49 AM 8:08 PM
Moon
Waning Gibbous, 81% visible 10:53 PM 10:15 AM
The Kitchen's Garden 
35 responses to “PINCH AND A PUNCH”
Following Ardys: ‘pinch-and-a-punch’ is well and alive around here too half a continent away from her 🙂 ! Even amongst many adults !!! Add my plea for the rain: we only got 12mm for the whole month and none in sight and the dams are half-way empty. At the same time we had 13 days in July with over 22C temperatures!! Plain wonderful summer weather in Europe . . .
As well as the first of the month here isn Australia, August 1 is also the Horses Birthday and Wattle Day… well when I was a kid it was, I wonder if that’s changed too…
We didn’t have a game like that, unless you count Punch Buggy (when you see a VW beetle and yell “Punch Buggy (colour of the car)” snd punch the closest person to you and run). And we punched hard too. Once I punched my Mom and got a spanking for it.
Glad you have cooler nights, the heat can be oppressive on the plains.
We didn’t do the pinch/punch, but still indulge in cries of ‘Rabbits!’ That lovely orange cat was obviously making profound observations, like, ‘Why are you daring to approach me, bovine creature? I am not giving audiences today. Goodbye,’
Pinch and punch … did it for years! Like you I used to forget too .. Lovely images Celi. Hope you get that rain!