TheBanyanTree: Mid-September

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I think the seasons have shifted a bit.  We had a cool, dry summer, and now
fall has turned into summer, with hot, golden days, and cool, but able to
keep the windows open, nights.  I want to go to the beach, but the
lifeguards are gone, so I ride my bike instead, working up a sweat in the
sun, and I cool off in my shady house.

I accomplished a lot during this unusually cool summer.  I finally applied
redwood stain to the ancient picnic table.  I painted the wood trim of the
massive garage.

I got in a good garden this spring and instead of turning it into a weed
patch like I did last summer; I managed to keep it up and weeded and watered
it, and even though the cool summer didn’t help the tomatoes ripen much, I’m
proud of my garden and I love seeing it at the back of my yard.

I added mums to the mix this week, a pot of purple mums on the front stoop
and a pot of orange and yellow mums on the deck off the back door.

My house’s roof was replaced and it also has a new gutter system.  A new
awning hangs above the back door.

The house was power washed and looks bright white again.

I hired a handyman to replace the broken basement window.  Another handyman
fixed the ripped screen window in the boys’ room, replaced a broken light
fixture on the garage, and made sure the railing leading the basement was
fastened tightly to the wall.

My fear is that house will deteriorate without Ray’s loving touch.  I don’t
have his handyman skill, although I try.  And when I don’t know what to do,
I hire someone.
  
Joe and I went to the MN State Fair on the Friday before Labor Day.

Then on the Sunday morning before Labor Day, we drove through ND and MT to
visit Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.  The weather
was perfect – chilly in the mornings, but warm in the afternoons.

We loved the parks and learned a lot about ourselves, too, like we travel
well together, but we don’t travel well together.  We managed to get through
the trip without killing each other, and we did have our moments that could
be called good times.

Ray would have loved the trip.  He would loved the mountains and the ranches
and the cattle and the horses.  He always bought pins that symbolized our
travels, so I bought him a Yellowstone pin and left it for him at the
cemetery.  

Ray was sitting beside me in the car, I drove all 2600+ miles on our trip,
soaking in the scenery, and he was trying to tune out Joe’s endless chatter
as much as I was.  If Ray wouldn’t have been with me, I probably would have
gone insane.  How can a person talk so much?  

So, we’re home again.

Back to work, where I’m on the bench.  Our project is delayed for an
additional year, so to stretch out the budget, people have been moved off of
the project and onto other projects or on the bench.  I don’t have anything
to do and that bugs me.  The HR guy doesn’t return my calls, so I started
looking for something else.

Our pay was cut 4%, we no longer get a match for our 401k, and various other
perks have disappeared.  I know that’s the way things are for a lot of
companies, but the workers are sacrificing for the mistakes of upper
management.  We have mortgages and bills to pay.

Meanwhile, my company builds up its offshore and cheaper workforce, and
publicizes hiring in the US for lowly call centers where they’re trying to
pay people by the call rather than an hourly wage.

I’m 54 years old; I have a mortgage and monthly bills.  I need to work and I
need to get a higher wage job.  I can read the writing on the wall.  My
company doesn’t want me anymore.  So I started looking.  It’s better to look
before being laid off, I think.  Fortunately, my skills are somewhat in
demand.  A recruiter called me on Friday and I need to dust up my resume and
he’ll submit for me.  We’ll see where it goes.

My second job is still there.  I love the people.  It’s been slow this
summer and we had a few days with no shifts, but the work is picking up for
October.

My weird neighbors, an eight person moved in, gave their notice and will be
out of there by October 31.  Five of them have moved out and only three of
them live there now.  That’s the way it should be.  The tension and the
stress is much less.  Cars aren’t parked all over the place.

The city replaced the sidewalks on our street.  Some of the new panels have
poems stamped on them.  Not very good poems, but poems all the same.

Today is a glorious day, with highs in the lower 80s.  I went for a bike
ride to downtown St. Paul.  I stopped at Caribou and had an ice coffee and
then rode home.

And our glorious fall continues . . .

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

The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.. 
-Frederick L. Knowles