By late morning the Cunningham Pool had light attendance in the already sweltering heat; by mid-afternoon, on a visit to the Swan lake Complex, the crowds were heavier, with youngsters sprinting up the stairs to the top of the water slide, or making some calculated plunges from the diving towers.

other children and teens simply paddled about, or clustered in small groups in the water, chatting, laughing and staying cool.

At the “kiddie” pool, the very young accompanied by their moms splashed about, taking shelter from time to time under the giant beach umbrellas at this site.

Here are some cooling images for a hot summer day:

[Show as slideshow]

Photos by Bill Larson

With the opening of school just around the corner, parents will reap the benefit of a three-day tax-free shopping weekend (August 1-3) just in time to stock up on school supplies, clothing and even a computer — anything needed to get the school year off to a good start. All without paying the 9.5% sales reaped by state and local government.

The battle for bargains kicks off at one minute past midnight tonight, and will continue through Sunday at midnight (if your favorite store is open that late).

What can you buy?

School clothing (items must be priced at $100 or less, which means no $130 deluxe sneakers), all the paper, pencils, notepads, binders, art supplies and other items your child will to start the school year off right. Need a computer? Anything valued at $1500 or less is tax exempt. At 9.5%, thats a saving of $142 and change.

For details on what you can and cannot buy, check out the listings at the State Tax Holiday website. Items ordered/sold via internet, phone, e-mail and traditional mail are also exempt.

With temperatures expected to soar to the century mark over the weekend, with projected heat indices even higher, make sure your car has plenty of coolant for that rambling around town, bring along water to drink (in a cooler with ice, if possible), or consider doing your shopping in the early morning or later evening hours.

And please, with the kind of heat the weather service is calling for this weekend, do not leave your children or your family pet unattended in your vehicle. A car in direct will heat up to 140 degrees in a matter of minutes.

Now, if only the state would ease off their portion of the gas for the weekend…

Several of these hand-printed signs hung from vendor tables at Clarksville Farmer’s Market Saturday morning, a grim testament to the impact the current heat wave and the long-standing regional drought are having on farmers and the availability of fresh local produce.

A handful of vendors stood under the railroad station canopy on Tenth Street, offering a selection of summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, okra, red and sweet potatoes, baked good, preserves and homemade pickles, and plenty of fresh peaches and ripe red tomatoes. At 10:30 a.m., it was already about 90 degrees in the parking lot, in the sun.

Paulette Peterson, market organizer, said it is the first time the market has ever had to close this early. “It’s sad. But everything is drying up and dying. There’s not much left to sell.”

Retired car dealer Eddy Kingins has been working the farmer’s market since his retirement, selling produce he grows himself. (Pictured from left, Sherry Kingins, Cameron Taylor and Eddy Kingins)

“I was in the car business for 38 years,” Kingins said. “I retired, and started doing this.” He loves the work and the “people contact” that the market offers.

“But there’s been no rain. So everything is all dried up. Everything in my garden,” he said. He has attended the Amish farm auctions in the hopes of acquiring additonal produce there, “but the Amish [produce] is all dried up too.” When he can find fresh produce and tried to broker a deal, he finds that prices have skyrocketed.

Even if it rains for a week, it’s too late to save the season, he said. While most of the South is in a period of prolonged drought, that drought has hit “extreme” levels in middle and western Tennessee, destroying crops, killing trees, and creating a secondary danger of brush fires. With daytimes highs staying steadily above 90 degrees, and multiple days with highs in excess of 10o degrees, mid-state Tennessee is “cooked.”

“Green beans that were selling for $14 a bushel are $32 a bushel not [at auction],” Kingins said. “Prices are sky high even at the Amish sale.” It leaves vendors such as the Kingins with nothing left to sell.

Kingins wife, Sherry, said the problem is not confined to the produce market. Farmers raising cattle for beef, along with dairy farmers, are facing staggering increases in the cost of hay and feed. “Milk and beef prices are going to go sky high” Sherry said. “Bales of feed hay that cost $15 or $20 dollars are going for $75 to a $100.” It will have a trickle down effect on the prices we pay for everything come fall and winter, she added.

So Kingins, Sherry and their grandson, Cameron Taylor, who helps out his grandparents “whenever I have the chance,” sit in the already warm shade, taking turns waiting on shoppers seeking out their vegetables, preserves and canned pickles, and saying goodbye to a summer sojourn that is ending too soon.

This morning at the railroad station, tables were set up at carefully numbers spaces. Vendors displayed bins and bushel baskets of what was left from their gardens, and conducted the market-fresh buying and selling for one last time this summer.

They are hoping for a better season next year.