This has been both the longest and shortest summer I’ve yet to experience. We packed our calendar with so much to do, made some good type 2 fun memories, accomplished quite a bit, but also, have had slow, frustrating moments. It’s been the most paradoxical time.
Yesterday we got a huge rain. A rain that doesn’t usually happen in August. The grass has been crunchy underfoot, the garden soaking up everything. The area around our house has been brown and to the eye, dead. But this morning, bursting from all corners of the yard is a rich green. An overnight transformation. Full disclosure, these poppies didn’t ‘pop’ that quickly. They’ve been there since early summer, but man were they thirsty.
From one state to the next, just like that. It’s how you define this summer. Moments that are forever, no sense of change, then one variable shifts and here we are, another place. Our kids have less than a month before embarking on new journeys at new schools. I hope the time has been well spent, while also recognizing we’ve still got it.
And the recognition starts with just noticing. Noticing the crunch, noticing the wet. Choosing to leave the headphones inside or at home. Listening. To the hwy, to the hawk that’s establishing territory on our land (we have too many rabbits so I’m all for this), to the wind. To at times, the sound of my kids fighting in the house when the windows are open, but also to the belly laugher that echos across the yard originating from the same place. Both/and.
It’s all woo woo. Or is it? Is it what life is about? I think yes.