Summer's Sunset

Aaah.
I can almost breathe again.

This summer is officially 71 days long on my calendar, and it's day #58. Thirteen days until the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. The summer is beginning to end. I can't say it's been all harship, but it has definitely been a difficult journey. Hard things can be good and they often make us more powerful. Sometimes they wear us out. I guess it's been some of both.

For fun, we've made books about Summer, made peach ice cream, learned about wool and how to spin it by hand, had an impromptu piano recital, gone to the library, enjoyed swimming and gymnastic lessons, visited new playgrounds, had a million play dates, one birthday and one super family reunion in the Adirondacks. I've drawn several hundred trucks, sea horses, and dog houses for my 22 month old, read at least 300 books aloud, driven what feels like a thousand miles, made 522 meals plus nursed the baby full time. The loads of laundry are as numberless as the sands of the sea... especially now that we've switched one child to cloth diapers. My robot arm and I have picked up the equivalent of 11,600 toys and books.

We've also had several dentist and doctor's appointments, way too many mosquito and black fly bites, a few bruises and scrapes, one unexplained fever, a bee sting, and some splinters. Not too bad, really.

The weeds took over all the gardens several times, despite my puny efforts. Raspberries were great again, and blueberries were huge! We had a decent sour cherry harvest- enough to make a cherry cake, but not juice. The tomatoes and cucumbers haven't had enough sun, but the various summer and winter squash varieties don't seem to mind the rain. Perhaps my biggest complaint is that there have been so few days of hammock weather.

I do like my hammock... there's always fall, I suppose.