SUMMER PLEASURES

C is for cubes, as in ice, the clinking backdrop to summer that most of us give little thought to. For Dallasite Robert Bifulco, though, ice is his life-and his business, Bifulco’s Vanishing Sculptures. Earlier in the year, Bifulco traveled to Japan for the 15th Annual International Ice Sculpture Exhibition as part of the American team, which won an award of excellence. Bifulco’s ephemeral, frosty works cost from $60 to thousands of dollars; call 522-5281 for information.



D is for drinks. The most happening way to beat-or, better yet, forget- the heat this summer is with a splash of Russian lemonade: mix one ounce of Limonnaya, Stolichnaya’s new lemon vodka, with three ounces of lemonade and serve over ice. Limonnaya is available at most local liquor stores.

E is for entertaining, which in summer translates to battening down the barbecue or hauling out the hibachi. If you’re ready to add some new thrills to the old grilling routine, a visit to the Grill Doctor is in order. Just open wide and say ahh-this one-stop barbecue emporium has it all, from patio and grill equipment to mustards, marinades, and cookbooks. Locations: 200 Spring Creek Village (386-5311) and 8311 Westchester Drive in Preston Center (890-4443).

F is for float, as in pool float, and here’s why you should spend $130 for the best one on the planet. The Super-Soft Pool Float is a vinyl-coated foam float that is comfortable and stable beyond belief. Super-Soft ownership may present a problem, as we learned after purchasing one last year: if you don’t have your own pool, you’re dependent on the generosity of someone who does, and that someone will casually ask if he can “try” the magic float. Trust us, you won’t get your beloved float back until the sun is setting and you’re packing up your shades, your copy of Delicious Sex. and your cooler. Available at Halliburton Swimming Pool Center, 4931 Airline. Suite 102 (521-0820).

G is for gardening, specifically summer gardening in Dallas. You may wilt when the mercury hits 102, but your periwinkles won’t. They love the Texas heat and thrive in full sun. On the other hand, if you have some shade in your yard, try the caladium. White caladiums are cool-looking during the day and beautiful at night, too-a sea of white. In your shadiest areas, plant red or pink varieties. Good annuals for shady yards include impatiens, which blooms from spring till fall, begonias, and salvia. In full sun, white periwinkles and copperleaf or lantana are striking combinations; tropical hibiscus is also a good bloomer in beautiful, bright colors. Add evergreen ferns to your beds and monkeygrass to help take your mind off the heat.

-Patsy Harris Moore



H is for hammocks. In my youth, nothing was more comforting on a hot, still summer afternoon than one large hammock, one large glass of lemonade, and one large cat.

The granddaddy of hammocks was then, is now. and always will be the Original Pawleys Island Rope Hammock. Pawleys, a tiny island floating off to the north of Charleston. South Carolina, has been hammock heaven since the late 1800s, when an island resident. Joshua John Ward, set out to make a better hammock. Today, Pawleys turns out 50,000 hammocks each year, all done by hand, with each one taking forty-five minutes to make. The hammocks come in three sizes-the single (perfect for one) is $79, the large (fits two comfortably) is $89. and the deluxe (big enough for three) is $99. And for those of you who lack a spacious front porch with strategically placed beams or two sturdy shade trees a hammock’s length apart, a free-standing steel hammock stand is available for $119. The complete line can be found at Inside Out Shop. 5711 W. Lovers Lane (350-6679). I is tor ice cream. This year’s hands-down crème de la crème is the gloriously excessive banana split at Baby Routh, 2708 Routh. It’s S5.50 and worth every nickel. In addition to the expected banana, you get homemade vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream and accompanying homemade sauces with the choicest berries of the day. pecans and macadamia nuts, and real whipped cream. Finish off one of these babies, and you won’t need to eat for another week.

J for Jolt, the cola with “all the sugar and twice the caffeine,” now available in local supermarkets. Although we applaud the sentiment, a D taste test yielded uniform results: our tasters thought Jolt bore an overly sweet resemblance to RC Cola, and preferred the taste of the real thing.



K is for keeping it kool in a Hacoo cooler. This locally made line of soft cooler completely covers every cooling need you might conceive of. Hacoo makes a number of good-looking, highly functional coolers in custom colors-from six-packs to wine bottles to gym bags. Find Hacoos at 7311 Ferguson Rd. (324-9553) and at local Kroger and Tom Thumb stores.

L is for legs, and the sexiest way to show them off is with thigh-high hose. An elasticized band acts as a built-in garter, keeping these slinky silks in place. The Fogal of Switzerland line is available at Stanley Korshak at The Crescent, 2200 Cedar Springs. Prices range from $18 to $21.50.

Then there is leg waxing. Women who haven’t done it ask furtive questions of those who have. They want to know what’s the point (your legs feel smoother and stay that way longer, for up to a month), whether it hurts (it smarts for a nanosecond), how much it costs (most local salons charge $25 for the lower legs, $25 for the upper legs, and $25 for the bikini line), and whether you can do it yourself (yes, but the self-inflicted process takes hours, and you may end up with first-degree burns and legs festooned with little pieces of left-over wax).



Sabra Wofford, proprietor of Derma Care and an ace leg-waxer, says: “The hardest thing about getting your legs waxed is making the transition. The first time, you have to wait at least a week for the hair to grow out, so there’s something to wax.” Derma Care is located at 4216 Herschel Ave. (521-7030).



M is for movie theaters, a traditional mode of cooling one’s jets that VCRs can never replace. Best auditorium: without a doubt, the UA Cine at Yale and Central: big screens, big sound, and the biggest, kick-backingest seats anywhere, with plush deep-padded rocking chairs and double-wide armrests to keep your neighbor’s elbow out of your Raisinets. Best crowd: moviegoers at the Inwood are dedicated, serious, quiet movie-lovers who understand that motion pictures do not require amateur narrators in the back row. For mainstream moviegoing, Caruth Plaza Theater is a good bet: no one ever goes there, which makes for easy parking and an empty seat to drape your knees over. Best prices: the dollar movies at Richardson’s Promenade and Northwood 4 are great, if you don’t mind the crying babies (on the other hand, if you have a crying baby, this is definitely your top choice). Most likely to be confused: the UA Prestonwood 5, AMC Prestonwood 5, and GC Prestonwood 3. If you tend to cut it close, be sure to figure out precisely which theater you’re headed for, or you’ll waste precious time circling the three-mile perimeter of Prestonwood Mall. Best bets for the undecideds: if you want to see a movie and he wants to go to a bar, try the Granada Cinema ’N’ Drafthouse. Get a drink or food from a real waiter and pretend you’re having a private screening. You can even smoke upstairs, if you’re so inclined. And the crowds are surprisingly attentive.

-Rob and Monica Allyn

N is for novels and other trashy summer literary, offerings that address the roasting reader’s baser interests: sex, sleaze, and scandal. A brief, sordid sampler:



“I had had my obligatory fling with him-if an affair with Bjorn could be called anything so frivolous as a fling-several years ago, when we were both between marriages (his sixth and seventh, my third and fourth), and it had left me raw and amputated for a year.”

-Serenissima by Erica Jong {Houghton Mifflin, $17.95)



“[Gary] Cooper was the first of a series of much older, married leading men pursued-usually with success-by Grace.”

-Grace: The Secret Lives of a Princess by James Spada (Dolphin Doubleday, $17.95)

“What is Warren Beatty like in bed then? He must wonder himself. We are not supposing from this book someone so monotonously secure or self-adoring that he does not scrutinize the tremblings and the commotions in his ladies (and in himself) like a seismologist on the San Andreas fault.” -Warren Beatty and Desert Eves by David Thomson (Doubleday, $17.95)



O is for oases in the city. Water walls combine natural beauty and architectural artifice in a way that is refreshing to the anguished urban body and soul. The area’s best such oases can be found at the Dallas Museum of Art, Thanks-Giving Square, Lincoln Plaza. First City Center, the Fort Worth Water Gardens (pictured), and the Kimbell Art Museum. Closed for the time being, but not forgotten, is the West End Oasis, which has what is arguably the most beautiful water wall of them all.

P is for paraplaning. Picture a twin-engine motor suspended in midair by a billowing, bright-colored parachute. Now try imagining yourself up there, legs outstretched and resting on left and right foot pedals, sitting in a straightback seat fitted in front of the engine.

Headed up by FAA-certified flight instructor Dave English, the Future Flight program starts with informal ground school, a demo flight, and a thorough mechanical check of the paraplane. When all systems are go. and about the time you think the world can hear your heart pounding through your chest, it’s show time. Take a deep breath and remember that there have been no paraplane accidents to date, there is two-way radio communication at all times, and, should either motor fail, you’ve got a parachute.

Future Flight is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk (for smooth sailing, choose either the early morning or evening hours since there are fewer conflicting air pockets at this time). A twenty-minute flight for one is $50. Group rates are available. Call 423-8361 for an appointment.

Q is for quickie trips. Southwest Airlines is practically giving them away through its summertime Fun Packs promotion. The mini-vacation packages (good for Thursday through Monday trips only) include airfare, hotel accommodations, and a rental car. dirt cheap. (A five-day, four-night trip from Dallas to New Orleans, for example, is only $210 per person.) With one phone call (640-1221), choose your getaway (Southwest flies to twenty-six destinations) and book yourself into one of the six moderately priced hotels participating in the promotion.



R is for reading Spy magazine, which is the publication local hipsters will be seen perusing poolside. Spy is viciously funnv (a recent feature called “Too Rich and Too Thin” showed unflattering close-ups of the neck areas of Anne Bass and Mercedes Kellogg, among other scrawny socialites), and it has extra cachet because, at least for now, it’s not distributed in Dallas. You have to pick it up in New York, or take out a subscription ($25 from Spy, P.O. Box 854, Farmingdale, NY 11737-9954).

S is for sculling. By now, you may have spotted a strange-looking (from the banks, it looks like a long, skinny blade of grass) boat skimming across Bachman . Lake. Unless you’re an Ivy Leaguer, you’ve probably never heard of crewing, but the rowing scull is said to be the fastest man-powered boat around. It works just like a rowing machine, the streamlined body powered by’ the push and pull of the oars. The best place around town for a scull is Bachman Lake because motor boats aren’t allowed on its water (the lightweight body of the scull can’t handle choppy wakes). Get an early morning start since the rowing scull provides a strenuous workout. Staffers at Mountain Sports in Arlington recommend the Little River Marine Rowing Scull, available in two sizes, a single-seater that costs about $1,700 and a double-seater at $2,400. Both need to be special-ordered, so expect a four-week wait. And, if you don’t want to make the investment but want to try a scull session, contact the Dallas Rowing Club to sign up for a weekend sculling seminar ($25 per person). P.O. Box 7309, Dallas, TX 75209.

T is for tandoori, a preparation in Indian food, which some food experts believe you should eat in the summer to help you cool down. The theory goes like this: the perspiration that the spicy cuisine causes leaves you feeling cooler than if you had consumed, say, a milkshake for your dinner. We’re not sure we buy this theory, but we will buy any reason to eat Indian food. The theoretically cooling possibilities: Akbar; Red Chik N; Curry In, Curry Out; India Palace; Kebab ’n’ Kurry (on Walnut Hill); Kebab “n” Kurry (on North Central Expressway); and Tanjore.



U is for the ultimate summer cookbook: The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison with Edward Espe Brown (Bantam, $19.95). Greens is a glorious vegetarian restaurant run by Zen Buddhists in San Francisco that has been consistently rated as one of California’s best since its opening in 1979. No mashed yeast with bean sprouts here; this is cool, sophisticated fare with so much appeal that you’ll probably forget it’s healthy.

V is for vacation planning. Before you pack your bags and head out of town, check into the Hawaiian Shop. Just beyond the racks of Jams and swimsuits, you’ll find Hawaiian Shop Travel, where they’re ready to write up your ticket to paradise.

The Hawaiian Shop, the only retail clothing store in town trying its hand in the travel agency business. features shelves full of vacation videos to supply you with a native’s know-how. Films of more than 170 vacation spots-from tropical Tahiti to ever-humid Houston-are available free of charge for in-store viewing and rent for $2 a day. Once you’ve found your place in the sun, the full-service travel agency fills in the details. They’ll handle ticketing, transportation, and hotel accommodations, anything to send you packing. As added incentive to book a trip through them, Hawaiian Shop Travel throws in a clothing discount. They’re located at 121 Preston Royal East (691-4145).

If you’re looking for someone to vacation with but the little black book is full of blank pages, call on Travel Match. Through a system of special-interest sheets, this network provides members (currently the club roster consists of about 180 members, roughly 60 percent women to 40 percent men, most over thirty) with an opportunity to select prospective travel companions. Once you’ve picked a name and the two of you have met, the only thing left to do is to figure out the wheres and whens.

It’s $85 a year (senior citizens pay $65), or give the service a six-month trial run for $55, For more info, call 490-4819.



W is for watermelon, the quintessential fruit of summer. “When one has tasted watermelons,” wrote Mark Twain, “one knows what angels eat.” The temptation is to do something with a watermelon-salt it, turn it into sorbet, spike it, or some other untoward thing, We are here to tell you to let your watermelon be. Some things can improved on.

X is for X-rated spots for viewing bathing suits. Where to look: International Athletic Club’s outdoor pool (for the hardbodied North Dallas look), SMU pool (for the young, innocent, glistening look), Village Country Club pool (to observe the magic of young secretaries with big curly hair diving in and emerging with mascara intact), and Verandah Club pool at the Loews Anatole Hotel (for the beautiful divorcee who’s in town for the weekend). And please, do not go to the Galleria and loiter outside the Just Add Water store, hoping for a peek of someone trying on something skimpy.

Y is for yachting. Southern style. Just because Dallas is mercilessly landlocked doesn’t mean you can’t say yes to yachting. The | Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club, with home bases on Lake Dallas and Lake Lewisville, provides eager boaters with a chance to pretend they’re bringing the America’s Cup back. They teach a sailboat training program, host moonlit tours, and are sponsors for the Olympic-bound North Texas State University sailing team. There’s a $400 initiation fee plus monthly dues of $60 (if you’re under thirty, the initiation fee is $100 with monthly dues of $25). To speak with the skipper, call the club at 634-8080. For waters closer to home, contact the North Texas Sailing School at Chandlers Landing Marina on Lake Ray Hubbard (226-1901). A fifteen-hour course in sailing is $195.



Z is for the kind of Z’s you catch on linen sheets. Sleep comes coolly and effortlessly on these blue-scalloped beauties. They’re hideously expensive ($250 for a queen-sized flat sheet at Neiman-Marcus) and the farthest thing from easy care, but nothing is smoother against the skin on a summer night.