Summer's Song

What is it about Summer that makes everyone so happy ?

For many of my friends and I who are in education, it's a no brainer; No School !

As a college student, it was a great job and making money for the next semester, then going out at night in Lake George for all of the shenanigans to follow !
For the gardener, it's seeing the payoff for the efforts of planting, pruning and waiting.
Swimming, picnics, travel, leisure, reading, and a shady hammock seem to beckon in the season's offing...

This solstice, this year, for me was unexpected. On Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, though I had planned a quiet get a way in my fave ocean side town, the Universe took a different turn.

My mom fell, was hospitalized, and relocated to a rehabilitation facility an hour outside her/our hometown.
Great news; she is expected to return to not only her prior strength, but BETTER than before ! There will be some changes in day to day living for a while, but all early signs are that they are fairly unobtrusive and amenable; the goal is to return elderly to their most desired, familiar and comfortable surroundings. Mom shares this goal, and is working like an olympian to get there. She is amazing; at 85 she is "working out and wants the pants with the stripe." No problem !


So, with that and spending the last month commuting upstate on the weekends, I have had time to think and decide that though Plan A is cancelled, Plan B looks good.
Really good.

I had vowed last summer that I would NOT be upstate the whole vacation, no way, no how. I still hold that proclamation true. The difference is that while I drive to and from visiting Mom, and stay with her during her transition back to her house, I will be working on projects that have been pushed aside for too long.

While Java the Free Range Kitty continues finding her inner hunter beast, I will be writing, taking on line courses, swimming, visiting with old and new friends, meeting my great nieces/nephews, celebrating my Mom's achievements, shopping at the farm markets, and renewing myself for the school year to come. I will take a holiday at the ocean, but I am keeping my plans fluid and I am confident it will fall into place.

THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne, suggests that there are no accidents, that fate plays out "the way it is supposed to."

How I, we, deal with that hand is OUR choice. And for now, for this summer, I think it's all worked out quite nicely.