Mimosas and Boon Jugs

As Ward Cleaver used to say, Good morning, June! [SOUND: rooster crowing] And it is a good morning, all that heat and humidity chased away, high in the balmy seventies. [Singers: “Septa-guinta!”]

This is “FM/AM” J. Jason, DJ, spanning the year one initial at a time. And of course, we’re moving through the moniker, saying so long to the J. and hello to the Jason, which’ll take us from July clear through November. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

So, what does the end of June have in common with the finale of “Citizen Kane”? Give up? A silent e! [SOUND: groan] I knew you’d like that.

Moving right along, it’s time for a flower report from our day-to-day color guy, “Mt. Wt.” Friss…

Mt. Wt.: (Andy Devine voice) This is Mountain-Weight Friss, former professional wrestler who gave up full-nelsons for nature, with the June flower report. J, it’s a big time for Albizia julibrissin, better known as the silk-tree or mimosa. Its delicate little silky flowers, which look like pink and white pompoms, are something to see. This spectacular tree was introduced to the US from Asia in 1745. Also coming out now are the hoboes, of course, by which I mean the roadside meadow gang: the chicory, tiger lily, black-eyed susan, tansy, goldenrod, and Queen Anne’s Lace. It’s all good, J.

Thanks, Mt Wt. Now how about a June song? It’s Little Richard, singing “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.”

[Little Richard]

Not exactly your grandpa’s version! Well, what can we say about the last day of June? It’s Mike Tyson and Czeslaw Milosz’s birthday. One fought for freedom of expression and the other fought for fortune and fame, with a piece of ear on the side. It’s also the birthday of the playwright John Gay, who wrote his own epitaph: "Life is a jest, and all things show it. I thought so once, and now I know it."

Speaking of which, we haven’t said much about June bugs, those big clumsy beetles that crash into screen doors or sometimes the back of your neck this time of year. Not that there’s much to say. On the other hand, there’s a song about its cousin, the boon jug, which goes:

I wish I was a
rhinocerarius,
a hippopopotami,
huh-huh-huh-huh.
But since I am not,
and never can hope to be
a rhinocerarius
a hippopopotami…
I’m a boon jug,
I’m a deeble,
I buzz and hit my head against a tree,
Huh-huh-huh-huh!

Well, that’s about all we have time for. Thank you, June, for Flag Day and the fireflies and the night herons and the mimosa and the black-eyed susans, and for Susan Heyward and Lena Horne, whose birthday it also is today. We’ll see you next year. For now, this is FM/AM J. Jason, DJ, saying: Be kind, keep an open mind, and see what you find!

[Reprise, Fats Waller, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”]