Nothing Pressing

I vaguely remember last year at this time, writing about all the things we were trying to fit in before summer was over and the cool weather set in. I don't feel as rushed this year, even with our cold summer, but I know I am really enjoying these newly warm days with the kind of delight you take in the last fresh Michigan strawberry. I guess I'm savoring them, with more patience for exploring and picking fuzzy old dandelions and getting dirty or jumping in water.

Today we had a garage sale in the morning, so Trevor took the kids bright and early to get doughnuts and play with friends while I manned the tables. (Sidenote: Repeat garage sale -- with more stuff from friends who stopped by -- in two weeks. It was quiet today.)

After we closed shop Trevor went on a Vespa cruise with a friend and I took the girls to Camp Petosega, where they bypassed the playground and headed straight for the beach. The water was crystal clear, completely clean and so warm that even Berit walked right in. We did lots of adventuring in the lake, picking up wet sand and squeezing it, plopping it back into the water, scavenging for shells and stones and playing with the friendly minnows.

I have always had a fear of lakes (and a terror of oceans), but when I've got my kids with me I usually completely forget about it. It's one thing if we're by my parents' black lake and they want to go in -- no. They can with Dad; out of the question for me. But when we're in Lake Michigan or Crooked Lake, I always think back on our day and realize that hey, I wasn't scared. It helps that our children rarely go in past where Trevor and I can stand, so there's no open water at my feet with who knows what lurking down there.

We came back home and I served ice cream at 4:30 p.m., and somehow they were still hungry for dinner afterwards. We did baths and bed, and when Trevor's not home we three pile into the big rocking chair in Marta's room and read books together instead of each girl in her own room. They chose Dora's Sleepover Party, Ten In The Bed and Tugga Tugga Tugboat -- a book whose lure escapes me completely, yet I read it on demand at least four times a week. Marta took Good Dog, Carl, to bed, and Berit took Noisy Nora with her.

The sun set tonight around 7:30. Seven-thirty! And Facebook is filled with back-to-school excitement. Berit still has one more week before school starts, but we're feeling the electricity of fall creeping in in our house, too. While eating ice cream sandwiches on the deck we analyzed the colors of the leaves on some of the trees hanging over the side -- purples, reds, oranges, and leaves that have already passed through their bright phases and have gone onto brown.

We're meeting friends for a walk in the morning and I pulled out long layers for the girls to wear, though I feel fairly certain they'll be shedding them as the sun creeps out. Trevor's constantly updating us on pre-season football and just informed me that we'll need to be home this Sunday by 8 p.m. for the Bears' first season game. As I wrote that last sentence he told me about it again, and as I write this sentence he continues to tell me about it. Against the Packers, did you know?

With a late summer of little to no building going on, we've been so glad to have several clients eager to build this fall, and Trevor keeps having successful meetings over on the lake as friends and clients spend their last few weekends here of the season. We're blessed, that's just what it amounts to, because this economy stinks and so many people don't have work. We've had a few scary weeks but for the most part, we've turned out to be very lucky, and we are grateful. This past year of unfriendly NASDAQ reports has taught us to cling tightly to the basics and realize that the rest is just crumb topping -- it is lovely to have but could fall away in a moment.

My girlfriend was here this morning with her 9-week-old baby, who was just warm and cozy and slept all two hours she was here, and it just felt right to be holding a baby as the temperature dropped. Both of my babies were born in the winter, and while it's hard not to be able to take them outside, it is nice to snuggle their warm little bodies.

It feels so good to be prepared, with school clothes and new jeans and the coats out of storage, but not needing them. To know that we're safe and secure for the time being. And to have our oldest heading into school, but only a little -- we don't have the nervous excitement of kindergarten for two years yet.

Things are calm. Are they calm before a storm? Hope not. The dog still stinks. Really stinks. And we're thinking about switching to cloth diapers, so, that'll be dirty. Things will pick up here soon enough.