Four Seasons of Life

We survived the fires, but two big ones broke out around us. The conditions were perfect for something much worse—dry heat and high winds. Unfortunately, we have another hot weekend coming up. I kind of thought we were out of it, but Mother Nature isn’t done with us yet. 

Bring on Fall! 

A good friend wrote me yesterday and asked if I wanted to ride, but I told her I am on full time babysitting duty and have been for the last two years. She was surprised. I guess I didn’t tell everyone why I’m not riding as much. I’m pretty sure I’ve explained it on this blog, but probably not well enough to my local friends. When all this happened, I kind of isolated myself and threw everything in to getting through it. I told her that in September I will have two days a week free and we will ride then. 

Bring on Fall!

In the meantime, we are getting a lot of family time and we are blessed to have so much of it around us. Tonight we’re having Thai Tuesday with the kids and on Saturday, taking some on the boat. We’ve hosted family for the last two weekends also, and had a trip to Texas (I stayed home to babysit) to see family. 

The work on the house next door continues, but we still have a long way to go. We knew it would be a big project, and it is. For example, it’s a large house and every smoke alarm was beeping for new batteries. ✔️ done. The furnace hadn’t had the filter changed in four years. It was completely clogged. ✔️ done. The refrigerator was broken and the contents spoiled. We cleaned it out. ✔️ done. Mowing. Almost done. And so much more to be done. 

Nature doesn’t take much time to reclaim itself. All it would take is a fire and nature would win the battle entirely. Poof! That’s how transitory our lives are. 

There has been a theme this year. The year my husband’s dad died there was also a theme: Christmas Carol by Dickens. We somehow saw it performed three times, twice here and once in Omaha when we went to visit him a week before he unexpectedly passed. 

This year it’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. We have heard it performed the normal way and then in interpretations by Max Richter (my absolute favorite) and Piazzolla, also beautiful. 

It has made me wonder which season of life we are in. The busy-ness sometimes makes me think summer, but the reality is probably autumn. It’s definitely not winter.

Someone recently said that babysitting duties keep us young and contribute to a longer life. Maybe prolonging “summer” and “fall” has that effect. 

If so, I will live a long time.

Bring on Fall! It is, after all, my favorite season.