Before Summer's Gone

It’s still hot, hot, but there’s a fall feel to the breeze that moves through the windows at sunrise. It’s quiet since Anna left for North Idaho for her first real full-time job. I’m not comfortable with life’s passages and late August is ripe with passages.   

Callie made the move from New York City and is now safely ensconced in a perfect apartment in Boise. She’s getting her feet under her and finding lots of support in her new community. This Mom is very happy to have her back within shouting distance.

The girls were in full nesting mode as they prepared to leave for their new apartments. Anna did some DIY projects, using lumber she found around the ranch, leftover paint and canning jars from the store room. Callie rounded up some warped boards from the burn pile that she hoped to turn into swooping, hanging shelves. They needed Mark’s help and he took an afternoon off from ranch work to do just that. He and Callie had to make a few trips to Home Depot to get the shelves hung. He laughed, saying what she really wanted was for them to levitate in her living room! 

               

Mark and I served as grand marshals of the Little Buckaroo Rodeo Parade. Seth said, “that’s for 70 year olds!” Mark has announced the rodeo for 25 years so comes by it honestly. We rode in the parade in Gary’s horse drawn surrey pulled by two white steeds named April and May. Anna and great grandma Bonnie sat in the back seat. What fun! The surrey even had fringe around the top, so of course I had to sing the song from Oklahoma!

Anna and I froze corn and canned peaches before she left. To that we added red potatoes, beets, kale and basil from the garden as a starter kit for her kitchen. She takes her roots - figuratively and literally - with her. 

It’s a bittersweet time of year. Always has been. Mothers put their youngsters on the school bus for the first time with an aching heart. Little kids move into the fourth grade hallway or across town to the middle school with high hopes. Big kids go off to college. It’s transition time. 

photo by Katie Wallace

Now we hope they seal

Tada!