It seems like only yesterday that it was April and we just
got back from Arizona. I was full of enthusiasm for the Minnesota summer ahead
and I had a lot of projects lined up. Some of them fun and some of them work.
On this, the middle of August and the dog days of summer, I have safely put a
check mark along side of most of them. Mission accomplished. This morning as I
walked to the mailbox to get the newspaper there was a bite in the air. Fog and
dew are now the norm. The nights are getting longer and the warmth of daylight
comes later and later in the day. I noticed the hostas are done blooming and
the daylilies are drying up too. Now, at least for my flower gardens, the
blooms are all finished for the season.
Yes, the best part of summer has been spent and fall looms
on the horizon. The lake has weeded over and the vegetables are being
harvested. Fairs are over and kids are getting ready to return to school. A few
errant leaves have already fallen-- giving up early it seems. Am I rushing the seasons? I don’t set
the pace, I just write about it. Oh the summer heat still comes back from time
to time but it’s deceiving for summer has gone its way. Each month is also
another chapter gone in this year of our earth’s life. Each year, another page in our own personal
book of life. We seniors’ grow tired and uneasy come autumn and soon we will
head south once more looking for that elusive eternal summer but yet the pages
still seem to turn and the parts of the book we still have left to experience
grows ever thinner. Geography doesn’t help slow anything down and despite our
efforts, someday there will be an ending ---we won’t get to write about it-- we
just get to live it.
There was a family reunion last July. The seven surviving
siblings of my family are trying to pass the torch and keep the tradition
going. This year was the fortieth time we got together as a family. As the
oldest I never dreamed that the day would come when I would have relatives I
can no longer identify. Snuck in the back door they did. My siblings and I are
showing serious signs of wear and that’s just a nice way of saying we’re
getting old and wrinkled. To be truthful the second generation of this family
is showing some effects of the trip too, but life goes on, it has too.
Like summer, we seniors too are fading. We used to go to the
doctors when we were sick but now we find ourselves having all of these
scheduled checkups. They’re just trying to find some hint that something isn’t
working the way it should anymore. They have us drawing clocks and remembering
words they just uttered to us a few minutes ago. They want to know if our kids
are abusing us. Hell, I could take a little abuse if they’d just come and see
me. Half the foods I used to eat are no longer good for me. Half of the other half
doesn’t agree with me anyway. Most of what’s left isn’t edible, so I’m back to
oatmeal and Melba toast. I got a recipe the other day for fried kale. I have
found if you use lots of oil in the pan, it makes it easier to scrape into the trashcan.
Just kidding Pat. Had a funny thing happen this morning. My dog Molly was laying on the porch
sleeping with one ear flopped over. A humming bird decided to see if there was
anything worth eating in there. Never saw that dog get up that fast before.
Until next time
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