09.04.13  It rained here yesterday and was only 63 degrees and so dark in the house.  I considered bringing out the wool throws I’d put away for the summer, but didn’t want to rush the end of this season.  And, today is warm with smokey skies and boats are back out on the lake.  Maybe this is the last real day of Summer since the forecast is for rains and thunderstorms and cool temperatures through the week-end.  It looks like Fall is in the air for next week’s forecast.

I’ve been thinking about the seasons of our lives and how we can’t predict when one will come to a close, and another one begin.  One of our closest friends is scheduled in two weeks for open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve.  A couple of months ago, he was a world-class endurance athlete, winning national and world titles in mountain bike racing and nordic ski racing, after years of Ironman triathlons in Hawaii.  Then, somehow, he got a bacterial infection in his blood stream which has destroyed his aortic valve.  He just had his 61st birthday in the hospital.  I don’t know what this will mean for his future lifestyle, and wonder if this particular season in his life is coming to a close.

My youngest grandchild, 2 1/2, had his first day today at a new preschool.  He’s been telling his Mama, “I want to stay little and not grow up to a new school.”   She has been bracing herself for crying and sobbing on this first drop-off day, but after a little playing together, he told her, “you can hand me off now, Mama.”  Maybe it’s the end of a season in my daughter’s life, as her baby now releases the grip of her hand.

We just don’t know.  All the more imperative that we linger in the remains of the season, be here now.