TheBanyanTree: Labor Day

[Margaret R. Kramer]

It’s the last day of unofficial summer with nothing to look forward to until
Halloween.  My grandsons are ready for their first day of school tomorrow.
They have their supplies and will get their haircuts later this morning.
They’ve been to their school’s open house and know who their teachers are
and what kids are in their classes.  The older one, the third grader, has a
girl in his class who has been in all his classes since kindergarten.  I had
one boy, David, who managed to be in the same kindergarten through sixth
grade classes with me.

For me and Ray, tomorrow means going back to work.  I’m in the midst of
deadlines and I know I have several meetings scheduled for tomorrow.  My
work schedule is leering at me today and I’m trying to block it out as best
as I can.

My son and family are going to the State Fair after the haircuts.  We’ll get
a break from them.  As much as I enjoy seeing my grandsons, it’s nice to
have a day to ourselves.  We watched them on Saturday afternoon and
yesterday we went to see an Imax 3-D movie, Dinosaurs 3-D, which was very
good.  On Tuesday, after they’re done with their first day of school, we’re
going to meet them for ice cream.  And on Friday night, we’re going to take
them to a high school football game while the weather is still nice.

What happened to summer?

It slipped away in an instant.  We did lots of swimming.  I managed to get
in a few bike rides.  I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  We didn’
t go on vacation.  We went to a couple of Twins games.  It was an average
summer.  Oh, and I got a new dog, Shadow.  He truly is a shadow, he follows
me everywhere.

Ray and I went to the Fair on Friday.  We took the day off from work.  It
was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, perfect for the Fair.  Right after we
arrived at the Fair, a bull got loose and ran through the crowd a bit before
trying to take on a fire hydrant and was killed instantly after he slammed
into it.  We didn’t see that happen, but we saw them put the dead bull on a
trailer and cover it with a tarp.  I looked away and bought a footlong
hotdog, now why would I be hungry after seeing that, and promptly slopped
mustard all down the front of my shirt.  Well, no worries, I was at the
Fair, and I could easily buy a new shirt and that’s what I did.

What’s on my agenda today for the last unofficial day of summer?  Well, it’s
going to be warm and a little steamy.  I’m going to go to workout.  I have
to pay bills and see how much money we don’t have.  Then I’ll sit on the
deck and read.  I’ll grill some chicken kabobs for dinner.

I’ll go to bed early and instead of sleeping well like I have for the past
few nights, I’ll wake up several times drenched in sweat, love those night
sweats, worrying about work.

As I’m stripping off the damp sheets to cool myself off, I’ll hear the clock
tick past midnight, and I’ll know unofficial summer is over and unofficial
fall officially begins.

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

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can
steal.
~Author Unknown