Late September

I guess I can call it that, although there's still a week left. I'm wishing my life away, that's what I'm doing. So eager for the summer to be over. Here's a news flash: the predicted high temperature for next Wednesday (the last day of the month) is 80! They don't explain why, it's too far out. 102 Saturday, 103 Sunday, and then by Wednesday, 80. I keep looking at the NOAA webpage so I can see that number.

My sister visited this weekend to help me (because Rocket Boy was in Colorado again) and she got to experience our summer weather. At one point we stepped outside a restaurant into the blast of heat and the wind was blowing hard. "Oh," she said, "that's the blow dryer effect, isn't it?" It was actually fun to be able to demonstrate the things I've talked about.

But OK, fun is fun, time for all those things to be OVER.

Rocket Boy got back from Colorado and he was actually glad to get back to the heat. He said it was cold in Boulder, it felt like winter was coming. Winter, what a wonderful word.

I wonder if the black widow spiders will go into hibernation when it gets cold here. I just don't remember all these webs being here when we first arrived, back in February. We had cockroaches, but not so many spiders. There's a choice, huh? Would you prefer cockroaches or black widow spiders in and around your house? Actually the black widows seem to be pretty good about staying outside. The cockroaches know no boundaries.

With the end of summer comes the end of a lot of things for us. We've lost our best friend and neighbor, the person who really meant "home" for us. Now pretty soon I'm going to lose my job. I helped interview my replacement last week and he'll be coming on board next Monday. I'm going to help train him for a while, act as a resource person, but I imagine in a few weeks it'll be over. October 13th will mark 11 years for me in that job. Time to move on, but to what?

This time of year I should start to have more energy, gearing up for a productive autumn. I've always loved the fall. This year things are just a little different. I'm trying to stir up that energy but it feels like I need a little more quiet time first.