Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

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The end of summer: Seven things I'll miss

So it’s Labor Day. The unofficial end of summer. Or maybe that happened for you earlier this week, or the week before, when the kids went back to school.

For the first — and last for probably two decades — time in our married lives, we are not bound to a school schedule. And let me tell you, it’s a little weird. In the five years we’ve been married, my husband has been in school. Our daughter will start kindergarten next year. So, this year, August, September, they’re just months. I remember, a little, what this was like the first fall after college. When for the first time in my life that I could remember, I wasn’t starting a school year. My working world continued, for the most part, as it had the previous month. And suddenly, I was a grown-up whose “year” didn’t start in August or September but in January.

I happen to love fall. I’m not a hot-weather girl. Humidity and I are not friends, and when the temperature rises beyond 90, I get cranky. I prefer open windows to air conditioning, pants to shorts and sweaters to tank tops. But summer has its moments, and even though we have a few more official weeks of it, I’ve made a list of seven things I love about summer and will miss as the season changes.

© Melissa King | Dreamstime.com

1. Hanging laundry on the line. If there was a sunny day this summer, I had clothes on the line. I think I can count on one hand the times I’ve used the dryer in the last 2 months. It’s been partly an economic decision and partly a we-can-so-why-shouldn’t-we decision. As the weather turns, those clothes-hanging days will dwindle. I’m not yet a die-hard winter clothes hanger like our Mennonite and Amish neighbors.

2. Flip-flops. So easy to slip on. And off. Terrible for my feet, but I can’t resist. I wore out one pair this summer. Maybe the pair I just bought will make it till next summer, but I will wear flip-flops with jeans and a sweatshirt, until my toes start to freeze. I know people who will wear them until Thanksgiving, or even into December. Socks and boots are soon in my future.

3. Time it takes to leave the house. In summer, when ushering three people out the door, maybe you need to grab a hat and a bottle of sunscreen. In winter, it’s layers and layers and layers of clothes. I find myself having to start getting the kids ready about 15 to 20 minutes before I want to actually leave the house so we can get hats and gloves and coats and boots on, if necessary. And I’m guessing this will be the year that we get all bundled up and someone says to me, “I have to pee” just before we walk out the door. In some ways, summer is easier.

4. Playing/sitting outside. We’ve spent many days this summer with the kids riding bikes or playing with sidewalk chalk or bubbles or even just reading books or coloring outside. I did a lot of reading on the porch. Spending time outside in winter requires much more activity. I don’t see myself sitting outside with a good book in the middle of winter (unless it’s a balmy day).

© Alison Grippo | Dreamstime.com

5. Fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m not a gardener (yet) but I appreciate those who are. I love seeing fresh local produce in the grocery store and visiting the farmer’s market for some homegrown fruits and veggies. I feel like our meals are much more colorful in the summer and we eat with more variety. Fall still brings us squash and apples, so all is not lost. Winter is dull in the food department. (Although we tend to make more soup in winter, and I love soup!)

6. Summer reading programs. The kids did the library program this summer and loved it. We read a lot of books, made some neat projects and treats, and they won some cool prizes. On Saturday, they get to each spend a dollar, courtesy of the library, at the annual book sale. I participated in the Tyndale Summer Reading Program again this year and read a lot of books for me. I love being exposed to new authors and new ideas, which is one of the major benefits of the program. (That, and earning a free book for every five books I read.) I won’t stop reading now that we’re heading toward fall. I’ll probably read more, in fact, but there’s something exciting about summer reading programs. (Yep, I’m a word nerd. High five!)

7. The pace. Even though summers are busy for a lot of people, the season tends to be filled with things we WANT to do not things we feel we HAVE to do. We’re more relaxed. We go on vacation. We have more flexible schedules for leisure and play. (Generally speaking.) With fall comes school activities and the BIG holidays and family gatherings. Church activities start again. Life is FULL. And before we know it, it’s the first of a new year and we’re tired. Summer passes all too quickly, but it seems time really does fly in the fall.

Those are my top reasons for missing summer. I welcome fall and all its coolness and color.

What will you miss about summer?

A ballerina firefighter and her brother the clown

The kids seem to be growing/changing/developing at a crazy fast rate these days, and I feel like I can’t keep up with it all. To remember for posterity, to share with family and friends who are far away and might possibly not check Facebook every second of the day. (Shoot, if that’s the case, they might not read this blog, either!)

Isabelle, at 2 1/2, has decided that she wants to go to kindergarten. Tomorrow. And ride a school bus. Today. We live along the school bus route, so when she sees the buses go by, she almost always  notices and asks, “Am I going to ride the bus?” She also has asked if we’re going to watch her when she rides the bus. Another almost-daily occurrence is the declaration that she’s going to kindergarten or school. She often dons her backpack and says she’s ready for school. I’ll remember these days when she’s a teenager and refusing to get out of bed, right? Who knows, though, maybe she’ll actually like school and be one of those weird kids (me) who wanted to go to school. It’ll be here soon enough; I just wish she wasn’t trying to rush it.

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, her current response is “a firefighter.” Good thing her grandparents found a firefighter jacket for her to play dress-up with. Occasionally, she also wants to be a ballerina. You go, girl. We live in an age where she could totally do both.

Today at the park, I saw, once again, our little social butterfly emerge. When we arrived, there were no kids at the park. Within minutes, a woman showed up with six  kids and another woman brought her two kids. Forget whatever plans I had for a relaxing time at the park with my two kids. Instead of letting Corban swing in a baby swing and Isabelle play on the age-appropriate slides and equipment for her, I ended up following my daughter around as she tried desperately to join these other kids in their pursuits. She even started calling out their names when she heard the other kids call them. I sort of felt bad, like maybe she needs more social interaction. But maybe she’s just got the sort of personality that easily makes friends and includes everyone. She certainly didn’t get all that from me. I couldn’t even bring myself to say more than “Hi” to the other women at the park, even though I wanted to tell the woman with six kids that she was brave to take on such an endeavor.

This girl wakes up at 90 mph. and doesn’t slow down for most of the day. Including now when she’s supposed to be napping so we can go to the library later. Some days, she is a greater test of patience than others. But she’s better than a cup of coffee to get me going in the morning. She jumps out of bed and yells, “Mommy, mommy” then takes off for the kitchen or living room before I’ve even opened my eyes completely. And if her brother happens to wake up at the same time, she runs to him, loudly shouting, “Cor-ban. Cor-ban. Hey, popsters.” (His dad sometimes calls him Mr. Popsters or Popping-pops. The little sponge has picked up on this nickname and many others we use to describe him. I hope he won’t have a complex that therapy can’t solve later in life.)

Speaking of the boy, he is nearly 10 months old and just this week has started to stand without holding on to anything for longer and longer periods of time. It’s still only a few seconds, but I can see his improved balance and confidence on his feet. He also “walks” while pushing things. It’s only a matter of time. He’s also developed what we call the maniacal laugh. It’s different from his giggle or I-think-my-sister-is-hilarious laugh. He’ll be playing with something and all of a sudden let out this deep “ha-ha-ha” sort of sound that puts Phil and me in stitches every time.

He’s starting to eat us out of house and home. OK, so I know that’s not true yet. Friends with teenagers, especially boys, would tell me it only gets worse. But he’s eating more and more, especially if he can pick it up himself and put it in his mouth. He shunned baby food from a jar for a while, but now he’s eating entire jars in one sitting. We may burn through our stash yet.

Maybe he doesn’t intentionally do it, or maybe he does, but Corban seems to always be doing something goofy to put a smile on our faces. Sometimes it’s just putting an entire piece of fake food in his mouth then smiling. Or walking around with a fake hot dog hanging out of his mouth. Or banging on stuff to make loud noises. Whatever he does, he thinks he’s funny. And I guess that’s a good ingredient for a playful personality.

I often feel like we’re in our own little world and I forget to share these meaningful and ordinary moments with those we care about and who care about the kids. This is my attempt. I know it can’t totally make up for our physical absence in people’s lives, but it’s something.

Enjoy. We sure do.