Summer Afternoon Musings

 

Although summer doesn't officially begin until something like June 21st, for all intents and purposes, it is in full swing here in Florida. That is probably true just about everywhere: summer begins "unofficially" on Memorial Day weekend. 

Then it seems to sort of end, in a sense, just a few days after the 4th of July when the stores begin advertising their school supplies merchandise, with some schools beginning the first week or two of August!! What is left of actual summer is a lot of very hot and humid days, and here in Florida, a wariness regarding the possibility of hurricanes. 

Since I much prefer cooler temps over HOT!, my survival philosophy for Florida summers is to not go out of my way to spend time outdoors (without being unreasonable, you understand). Just like I used to stay  indoors in the coldest of weather when I lived in Colorado and South Dakota, here in summer I station myself inside, or on the lanai with a ceiling fan AND a tower floor fan blowing directly on my skin. 

We do ride our bicycles in the summer, heat and all. An interesting observation I've learned in the 4+ years that we've been riding, even on the hottest and most humid of mornings, once we begin pedaling down the street, the movement of air over our skin is delightful. We don't think about the heat until we stop for water (which we do twice in our 5-mile route). 

(I've edited the headstones for privacy)

Another survival habit in this climate is to, as much as possible, get our appointments, shopping, and other running around town done before lunch, when the greatest heat of the day is still ramping up. 

This includes our trips to the cemetery to "visit" our people. My late husband and Gary's late wife are buried in the same general area of the Veterans' cemetery, although far enough from each other that we reach both via car. We usually go to Tom's grave first because his headstone is in the very last row at the back of his section. Unfortunately the trees are too far away to comfortably sit in shade. (we didn't get to choose the grave sites; you accept what you are given)

Edith, by contrast, is buried in the second row from the road and very tall, shady oak trees are nearby. So after "visiting" Tom, we go to Edith's place and sit in our canvas lawn chairs in the shade. It's quiet and peaceful at both locations, but the shade tends to win out, of course. 

What do we do at the grave sites? I wonder how people would answer that, but it's really a very private question, so I don't inquire. I will say that visiting Tom's grave is always an opportunity for me to, once again, sincerely thank God for getting me through this far. Psalm 3:3 is often the foundation for my prayer: "Thou, Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."

I love to watch Gary at Edith's grave. Although we found new love in each other after the passing of our spouses, his love and respect for Edith is very apparent. It's beautiful. And the blessings of my years with Tom continue long after his passing.

(I've edited her headstone for privacy)

We usually take flowers that we've bought at the floral counter of the grocery store while en route to the cemetery. For the trip a few days ago, we did not do that. The weather is so hot that the flowers would not have lasted the afternoon before wilting and looking more sad than had we not made the effort. The above picture is from our visit earlier this spring. 

To help with the heat and glare, we took our wide-brimmed hats!! "Hat's a good idea!" 🙂

our hats on the back seat of our car

It's good to take time out to "visit" our people like this, just as it's good to observe holidays that remind us of our faith, those who have given their lives for our freedoms, and the birthday of our nation! We must not take any of these special people and times for granted.

Well, life goes on. I remember after Tom's passing the song made famous by Skeeter Davis came to mind:

Why does the sun go on shining?

Why does the sea rush to shore?

Don't they know it's the end of the world?

It ended when you said 'goodbye.'

As profoundly sad as grief is, life has continued and somehow the hurt is less with time and God's grace. It has taught me so much that I simply was unaware of until I had to experience it myself. Good, bad, ugly, and delightful. The world kept on turning with days morphing into night and then back to daylight again. Bills had to be paid, groceries needed to be bought, and the car gas tank had to be filled. 

Relationships were affected in ways I did not anticipate. Now, years that have passed, I understand that when massive changes come to us, we all respond in our own ways. Some of that is good and helpful; some is not so good. 

In a very simple way of explaining it, some people can tolerate liver and onions and some of us gag at the very smell of it cooking, let alone taking a bite of it. I'm learning I need to allow people the freedom to be who they are and to forgive those who are not so open to allowing me to be who I am. It's just life. We all have feelings and our own ways of coping.

Disrespect and true harm are not acceptable, of course, but we just need to let people be who they choose to be. We are all working things out in our minds and with time, patience, and choosing to be considerate, even liver and onions MIGHT become more appealing.

On our bike ride this morning, this turtle was lounging in the very middle of the asphalt multi-purpose path. I stopped to take a couple of pictures.

He is not the most handsome of God's creatures, but to his credit, he did not shy away from allowing me this "photo op," not behaving badly in any way. We did not touch him but just marveled at his "hose nose," and then left him alone. With reference to my earlier words, we just let him be who he chose to be. 

Our progress on the puzzle is good. I added several pieces and then Gary took over. I think he's done more than I have. It's a wonderful diversion for the mind when we have exhausted our thoughts about everything else. 

current Indoor status at 4:30pm

The TV said our "feels like" temp today would be close to 103 degrees. It's time for us to think about what we might want for a light supper, which means we'll close the windows here in the lanai, turn off the fans and go back into the AC for the evening. 

I'll close with the words to a song our junior church choir learned when I was in the 4th grade. They have both instructed me and comforted me in the hardest of times.

Trust and obey

for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey.

Until next time, [stay cool] in grace and peace.

Barbara