Just one more day.
One more day. I just need this for me. Please.
My Summer blazed past me - literally. It seemed like June
took forever and then all of a sudden it was September.
I know where the time went. We crammed as many “projects”
as we could into weekends and holidays. We never got the chance to relax or
unplug. It was go, go, go all day every day.
Not that I’m complaining. I’m really not. We did a great
job fixing, moving, un-screwing, patching, sanding, painting and scrubbing all
the things we needed to do. To top it off, it all looks great and everything
works. Kudos to us.
Today, I sit in my barely used lounger to suck in as much
sunshine as I can. I read and sweat under the heat and humidity, and I love it.
I take a moment to appreciate nature buzzing around me. I
listen to the hiss of the paper as I turn the pages of my book. I haven’t gone
to electronic books. There’s something about the solid feel of a paper book. I
like to mangle my pages. I like the smell of the bound papers. I like to mark it
as mine. And, I don’t like to share.
I read a chapter and take a moment to ponder life.
Whether it’s an idea sparked by the words I just read, or because something
caught the corner of my eye – I take a moment to notice.
I see the “no-see-um” gnats floating up and down as if
they were on a puppeteer’s string. Up and down. Up and down. They bounce along.
I can almost picture them bouncing above printed words. It’s silly. I know.
They move to a less-sunny spot and continue to bounce up
and down. There are hundreds of them to create this bouncing mist moving as
one. I can’t stop watching because it’s so odd looking.
Then there, over in the corner of the yard I catch movement.
It’s quick and sleek. My eyes have trouble following it after the lazy, floaty “no-see-ums”
meandering past me.
I spot another sleek flying thing on the other side of
the yard heading quickly my way. Now there are two.
In fascination I watched as the two turned into four and
then into eight dragonflies. Each cutting a swath through the gnats who were
clearly not getting out of the way fast enough.
It was a layering of Darwinism at its best. The first
layer of floaty gnats getting eaten by the stealthy dragonflies who, if they
weren’t quick enough, were going to be a nice feast for the bats.
The death dance was graceful and held my attention until
the sun started to dip below the tree line. The shading making the gnats flee
for their nests. As if going in pairs, the dragonflies disappeared.
As quickly as the dance started it ended. I was glad to
witness the beauty of it all.
No longer sitting in the sunlight, but now pre-pre
twilight, I’ve gotten what I came for. Sun, nature, reading, thinking.
I can let go of Summer and embrace Autumn – for there are
many things I love about Autumn too.
