TheBanyanTree: The Beginning of the End

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Nature gives us subtle signs that summer is coming to an end, even during
this time of global warming.  Maybe our chest pounding cold winters have
turned into warm wimpies over the past few years, but our summers have yet
to become endless.

After days of the same weather, hot and dry or hot and humid, we begin to
get a series of thunderstorms. And these thunderstorms start  cooling things
down.  There is a little shift in the air just like there is when winter
turns into spring.  The air doesn’t feel so heavy and it isn’t so warm.

The flowers begin to get scraggly.  My garden has lost its freshness.  The
plants look tired and worn out.  The tomatoes are coming in like crazy, they
loved this hot and dry summer.  I’m getting some large peppers, too.  But
the rest of the garden looks like it’s ready to take a break.

Fall is almost like January 1st in a way.  I begin to think of ways to
improve myself.  I thought of a way to change my exercise routine by doing
intervals instead of just letting my heart beat fast for 45 minutes.  I want
to get control of my money and actually start saving some.  I think about
clothes and what Ray and I will need for winter.  I think less about
grilling and more about baking.

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer.  I go to bed
so early that I resent the sun staying out so late in June and July, but I
sure miss seeing it greet me in the early mornings as I drive to work.  As
the days gather in more darkness, I feel a need to rein in my outdoor
activities and spend more time inside.

Don’t get me wrong.  We have a lot of summer left.  It hasn’t started
snowing, we haven’t had a frost yet.  We’ll have some 90+ degree days in
August and September, and thanks to global warming, we’ll probably have a
spectacular October to look forward to.

But summer is winding down.  Soon I won’t be able to sit out on the deck and
read.  Soon I’ll have to wear a jacket whenever I go outside.  And wear
shoes instead of flip flops.  My shorts will change into jeans.  Instead of
mowing the lawn, I’ll rake leaves.  I’ll miss feeling the hot sand between
my toes at the beach, the sun turning my body brown, and the little thrill I
get when my hot body splashes into the cooler water.

Well, tonight we’re going to celebrate the Boys of Summer by attending a
Twins game.  The Twins are honoring their 1987 World Champion team this
weekend.  20 years ago we all watched in excited fascination as this team
came from nowhere to win the World Series.

I’m going to share my great memories of this team with our grandsons, who
are coming with us to the game.  They already know about Kirby Puckett, and
they’ve watched the 1987 video I have of the Series.  We usually take a bus
to the dome, but just for something different, I think we’re going to take
light rail to the game.

Then they’re going to spend the night.  Then tomorrow, if it’s fall-like and
not summer-like, instead of going to the baseball field a half a block from
my house and pitching to them until my Cy Young arm falls off, I’m going to
teach them how to read a recipe, how to measure the ingredients, and then we
’ll bake some fresh chocolate chip cookies.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is
also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the
flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.
~Abram L. Urban