Bits and Pieces

Summer in Fall: It will be 90 today. On September 16th! It has been 90 most days this week. If not, 88 was the temperature. Rain? No; not even likely. We are in the midst of a stretch of days, perhaps 3 weeks of them, when the weather was distinctly summer, not fall. Yet, we are in fall. Without rain our landscape is quite summery, brown and dry. This is summer in reality, not fall. I wonder when it will arrive? Not on time for certain. No; this should be fall, but summer has not given up its hold on sun and heat. I, for one, delight in this.

Sneezes: A huge, sudden release of nasal air. A deep tickle of indescribable power. An expulsion much like an explosion. A sneeze can be small, even timid. A sneeze can be a mere interruption of a moment. Or a sneeze can be a series of many, taking minutes of time, energy and life focus. People who know me are aware of the big sneeze. Explosive and time consuming. A seasonal thing? Not very likely. A George thing, indeed! Mighty and debilitating. 

Weather: I have had a lifelong interest in weather. It has been a central fact of life all of my life. Growing up in southern California, weather was very pleasant. Warm, relatively dry, balmy often, sunny with very few clouds. Yes, rain happened and along with it gloom. But those dark days were few and did not describe the halcyon weather of southern California. Yet, I worried about cloudy days. I hated them. I was on the lookout for them. And when they came, I was miserable. Years later we moved to Massachusetts where clouds were daily and often dark. Rain, snow, miserable drizzly days and all the rest, New England's weather was changeable and often nasty. Very different from California. And so, I fretted about weather. It affected my days and my moods. Is this reasonable? I doubt it. Is it normal? I cannot say. It is normal for me. How about you?

September 16, 2024



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intimacy

As we mature, we become deeply involved in relationships. Some of this is basic family relations – siblings, parental – and the like. Next is friends who enter our homes and we theirs. Neighbors, classmates, mutual hobbyists and so forth. Then we develop friendships that go much deeper. We comfort one another when we are hurting physically or emotionally. We discuss the matters of life and learn much more about ourselves and each other. We can even anticipate how others will react to various situations and stimuli. Good friendships do not spread to everyone we know. No, good friendships are special, close and deeply personal. We focus attention and brainpower on these few friends. Some special relationships focus on specific topics of interest and importance. Yes, we have specialized friendships. Most common. But one day, we get to know one person very well. An emotional connection forms with deep roots. A need to know the person more fully expands in personal ways. We sense this b...
Read more

Bits & Pieces

Pie: Apple pie more specifically. With Thanksgiving just passed, many of us enjoyed a good apple pie. Sure, there was pumpkin to accompany the turkey, but in our family multiple pies are offered in the holidays. Apple is surely one. Pecan, pumpkin and others, too. But I almost always choose apple. When I was in college, I was asked what kind of pie did I eat most often. In front of my mom, I answered apple, because I was always looking for a pie as good as mom’s own. Of course my mother was pleased, but it was a true statement just the same. When I was married, Ann’s pie was darned good. Her mother’s recipe. But we fiddled with the recipe until it took on its own generational name, and boy, was it good! Today I still order apple pie for dessert because I am always looking for a great pie to challenge our family recipes. I rarely do find such a prize. Do others do the same? Do you search for a great pie of choice, continually? If you do, what’s your story? Why do you do this? ...
Read more

Remembering Tom Sherlock

Tom Sherlock died on Wednesday, April 3rd. He was 65 years old and did not survive a heart surgery. That was his unexpected end and sad enough. But there is more to his story. Tom joined Dan Schuyler and George Safford to create what became the Village Chronicles, a weekly newspaper serving Warrenville, Illinois. That paper expanded to serve Winfield and then West Chicago. The paper published for eight years and built a good reputation for itself. Tom served the paper in several ways. He was our information technology guru, provided hardware and software to support the paper's operations. He was our sole bookkeeper, accountant and financial manager. He designed our distribution process and provided office space for meetings and layout and typesetting. His efforts supported the work of 32 volunteers who wrote and reported on the communities we served.  The newspaper broke even financially most of the time, but it was a struggle. Tom managed to find money to keep the newspaper afloat...
Read more