Life Lately ~ August 2022

*I wrote this at the end of August and am finally wrapping up to publish.*

Despite the busyness of the season, there is a sense of stillness outdoors as if nature is holding its breath in anticipation. The twilight of summer is upon us. Willow and birch leaves flutter lazily to the ground while walnuts ping off the metal roof of the neighbor's shed. On the air is the complex aroma of ripe produce, the spicy, sun-baked earth conjuring the comforting essence of baked goods.

Gentle rains at the beginning of the month relieved the drought we had been easing into. While the garden didn't produce quite as I had hoped this year, I'm so thankful for the generosity of friends and family who shared their bounty. I was able to put a substantial amount of food away that will help us get through the winter. A lot of what's left in the garden I'm leaving to mature for seeds.

The beginning of summer found me suffering from a creative torpor that has thankfully been worked off. I now itch to get back to my paints and brushes, clay and wood and carving tools, wood slices and burning pen, quilt blocks and embroidery floss. So many ideas are brimming over, yet now there is school and so many other things to finish around the house after. Piles will continue piling and messes accumulating. So many holes are punched into my day by the need to drive boys hither and yon. 

We started school on August 22nd. This is Liam's first year of (youth) football and Gavin's second year of middle school football at the local school. Aidan's taking algebra and band. So five days a week I'm driving back and forth to the school three times with an extra practice run and back three times a week. This punches giant holes in our days that take a rigorously tight schedule and a lot of discipline to make work. Come October Aidan will be able to get his school permit, which should help if we feel he's ready for that then. Regardless, I'm tired and can't wait for football to be over.

A dear friend asked if I would read Kristin Lavransdatter along with her as motivation...and she ended up being the motivator for me. I read it as a trilogy to break it up. It was good, but what a sad, tragic tale! I also started rereading all the Austen novels, starting with Northanger Abbey. I decided to watch each novel's corresponding movie after finishing the book. It was my first (and last) time watching Northanger Abbey. Much was the same as the book but they had to throw junk in. 

This was the month of gorgeous bouquets and food preservation, and I feel like those are the only things I really accomplished. Summer just whizzed on by and plopped us back down in another school year, where the battle began again to balance necessary projects and learning.