I love this time of the year. The mornings are delightful. They are nice and cool and we can have our coffee on the back porch without sweltering. We can open the doors and windows so we can hear the birds happily chirping. Our cats seem to have more energy. I can hear the children lazily giggling after a long night of sweet dreams. It’s just a beautiful time of the year in an unfrenzied world for an old lady who enjoys living.
The days are cool enough that we can be outside and go and come without being laden with the extreme heat of the summer. I love the cool evenings. Like in the old days, we try to go out for ice cream and take a ride to see what is going on in the rest of the world.
When I was growing up we used to take rides every night. The house would be cooling off from the day’s heat. Most of the time, in Alexandria, our rides took us down the cool paths of Mount Vernon Boulevard. We would occasionally stop at the Dixie Pig for a barbecue and milk shake. (That’s when we could afford, weight/health wise, to eat that kind of food during the evening.) We would sing the old songs in harmony — like Moonlight Bay. Remember that? It was just a mellow kind of existence for the young and old.
My husband has not been well this summer, so we have been slowly trying to get him better. Our life has turned into the slow pace of only doing what is necessary or enjoyable. Why does it take something like an illness to remind us of what is really important in life? We are now, even as we speak, smelling the roses.
Send questions, comments and column ideas to Dene Nichols at dene-bill@comcast.net.
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