Going by with a bang

July already?  Really?  Every other year it seems like by this time summer is already beginning to wear out its welcome, with temperatures reaching, and staying in, the mid to high 80s, and grasses and other greenery losing their spring crispness.  This time last year we were working like crazy putting in new gardens.  In fact, the weekend of the fourth we spent collected rocks from a local farm digging out foot upon foot of clay and sod to put in the rain garden.  This year we've barely begun any massive garden work, other than the never ending weeding and water and the planting of the edibles, and the temperatures sure haven't cooperated.  Only a few days has it seemed warm enought o venture to the lake or fill up our little pool, and I honestly miss those sweltering nights when open windows just aren't enough and I'd like to knock down all the walls to get some air in the house.

So the fourth of July snuck up on us this year.  I could have sworn it was still mid June, and here we were, buying leftover fireworks at road side stand along with all the other procrastinators, only hours before dark on the holiday itself.  The fourth is especially special in our house because it is also grandpa's (as in Calvin's, not mine) birthday, making a true family occasion.  Even more especially special was the fact that Uncle Curtis (as in Calvin's, not mine) was in town for the weekend with his friend, Julie, so we got some extra party fun in.  We spent the fourth with my Aunt and Uncle (mine, not Calvin's), enjoying a delightful dinner at their house, and we spent the following day at my parents' house, playing frisbee and watching golf with Curtis and Julie.  It was everything a holiday weekend should be, and more.  Now if only the summer would slow down so we could enjoy it...

More holiday weekend photos in the July 2009 album..

Drum circling

I know I've mentioned this before, but I'll just have to say it again:  we love our library.  We have wonderful childrens' librarians and really inviting youth reading programs.  Every summer our library, like many others, hosts a season filled with fun activities aimed at encouraging kids to read throughout the summer months.  That, of course, is no problem in our house (if we have any problem at all it's in getting him to leave some books at the library for other kids to enjoy), but we like to take part in the myriad of summer diversions offered by our youth program anyhow.  Already this summer we've enjoyed meeting John the farmer and his many farm animals on the lower level of our new library (ever seen a cow checking out "The Big Red Barn"?), as well as additional story and craft times, and today we took part in the library drum circle, again on the lower floor.  I found more than a bit of comic relief in watching the librarians and drum circle leader trying to keep the kids, and their instruments, quiet until the allotted hour (it was a wasted effort in any case), and Calvin found great joy in trying out every instrument he could lay his hands on.  One might think that an hour of percussive instruments in plenty, but I think we could have gone on all day (maybe not the people on the upper floors of the library, though).  We'll just have to watch for our next local drum circle opportunity...

Rain or shine

Sunday, June 28, headed to the mailbox after dinner

Wednesday, July 1, headed to the mailbox after dinner

Just two

Every once in a while it is a great treat to be able to go out just the two of us, and we've been very fortunate to have two sets of willing and able grandparents nearby.  Thanks to Oma, Opa, and Aunt Ann for tonight's adult time–we enjoyed it immensely!

Lights out

There are many modern, or semi-modern, conveniences that we rely on every day to make our lives easier, safer, and even more full; electricity, for instance, gives us the lights by which we can see what we are doing, run our sump pump and general appliances, and read books together, without the dangers of an open candle flame.  For these advantages we have to thank the many inventors and brilliant minds who have come before, and for their loss we have to thank the violent hour long storm that graced our area late in the afternoon on Thursday, knocking out the power for 12 plus hours and giving us the chance to more fully recognize their value.  We were very fortunate ourselves;  the high winds that blew siding off one house and our neighbor's metal patio furniture into the vacant lot next door left our home virtually untouched, and the hail that damaged cars throughout the area obviously did not hurt our car, which was in the garage.  And while, as a runner, I have often bemoaned the fact that we live at the top of the hill in the village, as is evidenced by our proximity to the water tower, as I watched the water gathering in our backyard, reaching ever closer to our backyard neighbor's house, which is notably lower than ours on the hill, I told myself that the tiring uphill climb at the end of every run is worth the comfort of a dry basement.  This, of course, was driven home to me when, 12 hours after the storm, the water still ankle deep in the back yard and our sump pump still impotent without its power source, our basement remained dry thanks to that hill and our location upon it.

And while I will remain always thankful for the refrigerator and freezer that allow me to shop only once a week, instead of once a day, and for the washing machine that allows me to spend five minutes washing clothes instead of five hours, and for all the many conveniences which add time back into my day, time that I can then spend enjoying, nurturing, and guiding my growing son, spending some time without the electricity also reminded us of some of the things those conveniences have taken away.  As soon as the storm cleared Calvin and I ventured into the garage to disconnect the door and open manually for Jon, who was undertaking a harrowing drive home through down trees, power lines, and impromptu lakes, and when we opened that door we were greeted with a wonderful sight - our neighborhood was crawling with people who would normally have been shut up tightly in their air conditioned homes, oblivious to the presence of other human existence on their block.  We have friendly relationships with several of our neighbors, more so than ever we enjoyed in our old neighborhood, and when we walked down to the home that we consider to be the social hub of our neighhood we found them taking advantage of their new waterfront property status - the high school aged boys were surfing on the new lake in their backyard, and the parents were gathering to enjoy the antics and each other's company in lieu of regularly scheduled TV programs.  And while Calvin joined in the water play in the yard and we joined in the beer drinking on the patio I thought, momentarily, how nice it would be if we could have a scheduled power outage every once in a while, just to bring back some of what we have lost