Summer Shifts

I have been feeling oddly sad, like summer is over, even though it's only late July.  I had a great 4 day week-end over the 4th of July, and then life got hectic, with Vacation Bible School and the start of Summer quarter and Summer classes at the two schools where I teach online.

Plus we've had tree removal and trimming and cottage repair, and the pool is a mess because of those activities.

I will likely remember this summer as the summer of the back spasms.  I've had back issues of varying degrees for much of the summer.

I am grateful that the pain diminishes throughout the day.  I am grateful that, except for one day's exception, when I reach the wrong way and my back seizes, it lets go fairly quickly.

Still, I have been finding it hard to find a comfortable way to sit at my desk in the morning--this cuts down on my fiction writing time, since it's hard to reach for the keyboard of my laptop.

I've been carrying some stories with me for weeks now, but it's too physically painful to write them.  I hope they're still waiting for me when I have both time and suppleness to reach them.

But all is not sadness and pain; last night reminded me that summer's joys are still with us.  One of our friends returned from a midwestern state with fresh veggies for us.  So, last night we had grilled corn, grilled green beans, and a cucumber tomato salad to go with our steak--and the steak was not the high point of the meal.

Let me be on the lookout for ways to enjoy the bounties of summer--there is still time!