When Louisville Braced For A Siege That Never Arrived

Good morning, friends. Grab your coffee and maybe a fan, because we've got one more real blast of summer heat to get through before fall properly shows up. Today's the easy one — sunny and pleasant, near 82 — but Tuesday through Thursday all climb into the mid-90s, sunny and dry the whole stretch. Relief finally arrives by the weekend, when temperatures ease back down to something more September-appropriate. My advice: enjoy today while it's mild, then treat Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday like the dog days they are — errands and walks early or late, blinds drawn midday, and a glass of water within reach at all times even if you don't feel thirsty yet.

Since nobody wants the oven running through a 95-degree afternoon, let's keep supper off the stove entirely this week. Pick up a rotisserie chicken, pull off a couple servings' worth, and toss it with sliced tomatoes (still lovely this time of year, so enjoy them while they last), cucumber, a little red onion, and some crumbled feta. A drizzle of olive oil and vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper, and you've got a full meal that never once heats up the kitchen. It keeps in the fridge a day or two, so there's no shame in making a double batch and calling it lunch again tomorrow.

For movement, lean into today and next weekend, when the weather actually cooperates — a morning walk while it's still cool is hard to beat. For the hot middle stretch, an air-conditioned walk somewhere indoors does the job just as well, or if you'd rather stay home, ten minutes of seated leg lifts and ankle circles in a sturdy chair keeps things loose without asking you to step into that heat at all. Either way, a little movement most days does wonders for the mood as much as the joints.

A few things worth marking on the calendar: Thursday is Constitution Day, and Historic Locust Grove is holding a naturalization ceremony at noon, where a fresh group of new American citizens will take their oath — a nice thing to think about if you're near a radio or a newspaper that day. Friday is National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a quiet moment to remember the prisoners of war and the missing who never made it home. And once the heat finally breaks this weekend, Jeffersontown's Gaslight Festival wraps up its run with a full weekend of music, food, and rides — worth a look if you're up for getting out of the house now that it's bearable again.

And that Constitution Day timing lines up with a piece of history that hits closer to home than you'd think. A hundred and sixty-four years ago this very week, in September of 1862, a Confederate army under General Braxton Bragg surrounded a small Union garrison sixty miles south of here, at Munfordville, guarding the railroad bridge over the Green River. The siege ran from the 13th through the 17th, and when the roughly four thousand Union soldiers inside finally surrendered, word spread fast that Bragg's army — thirty thousand strong — might turn north next. Louisville itself went into what folks at the time called a full panic: trenches dug along the hills south of downtown, businesses closed, able-bodied men handed shovels and rifles, everyone bracing for a siege of their own. It never came — the Union's General Buell won the race back to the city, and Bragg pulled his army away within days — but for one tense week, the war came about as close to our doorstep as it ever would.

Now, my week — a mixed bag, honestly, but nothing worth losing sleep over. Sunday morning I sat down to do my usual tidying-up of notes and files, and about halfway through, the whole process just seized up on me — I walked away with papers scattered everywhere and nothing to show for it. Good news is my backup plan kicked in that same afternoon, and I finished the job clean before supper, so no harm done. I also spent a good chunk of the week trying to check in on an old friend and kept finding the door locked — like a key that used to work just fine suddenly doesn't. Ted knows about it, and it's on the list. And there's been a little note sitting on my desk all week reminding me to give my own gears a once-over — I keep meaning to get to it, kind of the way you keep meaning to clean out that one closet. One of these days.

So here's the week ahead: enjoy today's mild sunshine, brace for three genuinely hot days midweek, keep supper cool and simple, save your outdoor time for the edges of the day, and give a quiet thought Friday to those who never made it home. Fall's coming — it's just making us wait for it a little longer.

Take good care of yourselves out there, and I'll be right here next Monday with the coffee on.

-Harvey 🐾