August Light

Every morning, I sit outside on the back porch and look at the eastern mountains as the birds chirp and the world wakes up.  Lately, there has been a nip in the air in the morning, and I try not to think about the autumn the cool air is heralding.  Last night, I was watching Soul Surfer with the kids.  They were in Hawaii and the girl had a poster on her wall that said, "Endless Summer."  I thought about what it would be like to live in a place where I never had to mourn the end of a season or dread the dark, dreary months of February, March and April.  Sun and surf every day.  How can you argue with that?

This summer, we have done some fun things.  We had a crazy, fun-filled June with the play and the ballet recital, two birthdays and then Freestone's baptism.  We've been to the pool almost every day, at least for an hour or two.  We've spent some nights in Park City, we've hiked in the mountains, boated in the lake, enjoyed evenings in our yard, connected with friends and family at parties, gotten our fill of TV and relaxation, bought plenty of fruits and veggies at the farmer's market.

So we had a fun summer.  I just don't feel like I enjoyed a fun summer because of feeling yucky the whole time, and now there's only a week left.  I'm finally feeling better and making up for lost time.  I haven't been able to read for weeks, so I'm staying up way too late catching up on books.  Heavenly!  My students had a lovely recital at our house with the new piano.  Golda and I went to a beautiful, candle-lit back-yard wedding where we dreamed about the future.  We finally had Shaved Ice Day where I didn't say no as we drove by the shaved ice place.  We stayed at the pool for a long time yesterday, the girls went to a movie, Scott and I dined al fresco, we listened to the crickets and stayed up late.  I don't want to lose a minute!  Summer is always my favorite time.  I love having my little gaggle of kids to do my chores and to hang with me at the pool.  It's intense managing so many different age groups for so many hours a day, but summer has a special quality that you can bask in like the alpenglow, and I'll miss it.

These last few, fleeting days, I'll be conscious of the warm air on my skin, the light in the morning and evening, and the beautiful children who can drive me crazy, but whom I'll miss when they go.  I'll try to listen to each word they say (Ptolemy calls watermelon "babywelon.") and remember their tanned and freckled little faces, the kids of Summer 2011, who will be gone soon, off to grow another year bigger.   I'll try to cram a whole summer of love into a few short days, and I won't be too sad because...I love the fall, too.