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End of Summer

August has slipped away, like it does every year. One day, it's the glorious height of summer. The next, fall is nipping in the air, sliding in when I wasn't looking.

First, there was Peach Basket Classic. Always an amazing event. The whole town turns out to watch 3:3 basketball on the streets. It's usually blistering hot, little heatwaves rising from the blacktop. Zach, Andrew, Seth and Matthew have some crazy team name with even crazier plays. And Kate and friends play a little ball, too. The Haroldsons come and we eat too much junk and sit around the fire at night, relishing the relief from the day's sun, toasting marshmallows golden-brown.

This year was different. The weather was mild, the mornings cool and the afternoons warm, but not unbearable. The Haroldsons were in Norway, so we missed them. Matthew was out of town, so Zach didn't have a team. Kate played on a team with Jaiden, Kiana and Sam. They were great. They even beat the team made up of 4 Sagebrush starters...Sagebrush being an elite Tricities team that regularly beat up on us all winter long. The girls ended up third in their division. We cheered them on as well as Team USA, made up of Zach's buds: Will, Big Zach, Quinn and Tim. They had this huge cheering section, a mascot with a flag and Seth even shaved the team name into his hair. Despite missing many traditions, we still had a great time.






Peach Basket usually brings on a sense of sadness for me. In that, this year was no different. Cathy wrote a bit about this feeling on her blog...the heat of summer...the hot day dissolving into the cool night, the sense of slipping away. For me, it's the feel of the sun on your back, the scent of the onions on the cooling evening air, the sound of sprinklers in the distance, the sight of the dazzling stars sprinkled over the blackest of skies...and that sense of wanting to freeze time, to hold onto that last bit of summer, especially that year it meant that a life was fading away, along with the heat. That autumn would bring a new and merciless crispness, a new school year, a new life to face. Deb and I talked about how the end of summer, the beginning of fall brings into sharp relief the changes that happen around us gradually...suddenly we cannot ignore them. Jake is in college. Kenny is a senior. There is no holding on to yesterday. Whether you notice or not, tomorrow comes.

After Peach, Zach got his wisdom teeth out. Thank goodness he was a better patient than Kenny. No axe-murder scenes this time. They gave him some anti-nausea meds and some anti-inflammatory meds, which seemed to help. The two black and white kittens were his nursemaids. One of them was on him all the time. And they both would rub their tiny heads on his jaw, like they knew where he was hurting. So sweet.



Then we ran around doing the usual before school stuff: sport registration, physical exams, eye exams, dental exams, haircuts. We got Snickers spayed - no more kittens. Put an ad in the paper and found homes for all the kittens except Grumpy. ANYONE KNOW ANYONE WHO WANTS A VERY CUTE BLACK AND WHITE BOY KITTEN????? PLEASE?????

We took a trip to the beach. 8 hours of driving with 3 children, 2 dogs and 2 kittens. I know. Don't even say it. And we got a late start because Kate's window fell out. Don't ask about that, either. Anyway, once we got there, we had a lot of fun. Clam digging. Zach trying oyster shooters. Kate almost wrecking grandpa's tractor. Denise's crew came and Jake brought about 15 friends. They played volleyball and ping pong. Hilarious. The dogs ran around like crazy. Zach's quite the volleyball player. One of Jake friend's, after being blocked for about the 6th time said, "Duke, you're a problem!" (Z was wearing a Duke t-shirt, hence the nickname.) Kate held her own with all those high-schoolers...well, college kids now, I guess! We got our fill of campfires and marshmallows there, since we didn't get to do that for Peach weekend.











Football started yesterday. The boys have daily doubles. Practice from 8 am til noon and again from 3:00 til 6:00 pm. They're pretty tired and sore!

Denise and crew stopped by and spent the night on their way to Pullman. Jake starts WSU on Monday. Whoo hoo! We're all going there for a football game in September. Can't wait to see him and his dorm room. What an exciting time for him. Brings back so many memories. I need to call Peter B in NY...he and I always talk about what a magical time college was. I told Jake to get ready...that he would meet over the next few months, people who would turn out to be incredibly important people in his life...as close as you can get to family.

The kids start school on Tuesday. I don't have to go back until September 22. Gives me time to straighten out the IRS mess I seem to have unwittingly gotten myself into. As well as figure out all Kenny's social security issues before he turns 18. Sometimes I feel only steps ahead of a steamroller.

Gonna sign off for now. More to come Saturday.

Three years.
How has it been three years?
How has it only been three years?

Comments

  1. Indeed the end of summer my friend and no doubt memories of past August's flood your mind. Life just has a way of moving on. I am thinking of you and will be praying you through Saturday. Three years; how time passes. You've done good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I came across your site on CB. Your words, How has it been only 3 yrs? touched my heart and soul. I read up on your journey, Daves journey, so similiar to Johns, my husband of 29 yrs. John passed away 7/24/08 after a 4 1/2 year battle with a BT. I am asking how can it be a month has gone by , only a month without my precious John. Thinking of you all as you continue on the path called life. Wishing you the best. Love,Peace and Hope, Michele w/o John forever 46. www,caringbridge.org/visit/johnwebb

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michelle, you are so awesome! I sit and read in silence and know that God and your angels are taking care of you one day at a time! Everyone is happy and healthy and you have done so good.
    3 years is an eternity.
    Keep on keepin on!!
    Love Ya
    Sara and family
    (Duke is so handsome)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chelle,
    Your posts always ring so many truths in my heart and this one does it throughout. Wish we were in a position to take a kitten off your hands (Caleb is anxious to get one) but with renting still we can't...sorry!! :o)

    All the plans I seem to have for summer seem to slip past me anymore quicker every year. Sorry for not getting by more this year as we get started up. We really would like a football schedule so we can come up or catch a game or two in Tri-Cities this year. Ryan saved up his money and bought a really cool black ovation guitar - "just like Dave's" he said. Can't pry him away from it.

    I have thought about you all month long. You are always still in our prayers. I know you feel this more than I ever could, but there are still so many days when my mind drifts over the past and has a hard time grasping that he isn't there. A song that makes me tear up, but also fills me with the hopes of tomorrow is Mercy Me's "When I finally make it home". The guitar reminds me a bit of Dave, but the power of the words pulls my heart even more.

    "Gonna wrap my arms around my Daddy's neck and tell him I've missed him. Tell him all about the man that I became and hope that it pleased him. There's so much I want to say, so much more I want you to know...when I fianlly make it home, when I finally make it home.
    Then I'll gaze upon the throne of the King, frozen in my steps...and all the questions that I swore that I would ask, words just won't come yet. So amazed by waht I see, so much more than this old mind can hold...when I finally make it home, when I finally make it home.
    And the sweetest sound these ears have to hear, the voices of the angels. When I finally make it home, when I finally make it home."

    I love you guys!

    Will and the crew

    ReplyDelete

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