August Winding Down

Sitting on my back veranda last evening after a full day of picking beans with several swims and a few minutes in my kayak I tried very hard to take in August. One thing about August evenings , the bugs are not so bad and you can actually sit outside. The air was still and all around me I could see the efforts of the hours of work we put in during the spring and summer months. I thought about the high snowbanks that covered the veranda last winter making it necessary to snowshoe up a bank to get out of the house from January to April. Predictions are that we are going to get another similar winter, so August evenings should be so precious. Yesterday I picked beans all day and Burton took them to Kredl's. When I start to tackle the picking of the long rows of beans I question my reasoning for planting so many. Some day perhaps our gardens will shrink to a reasonable size. I have enjoyed watching the corn grow and we anticipate having ripe corn within a week or so. My sunflowers are reaching their gigantic potential. Peas are plentiful and new potatoes are there for the digging. I really do love the rewards of August and the rewards of hard work. Our animal contingent continues to grow. We welcomed two new calves to the farm this week and apparently more are on the way. Egg production is up and the turkeys are living the good life in their new yard. The pigs are enjoying lots of treats provided by a neighbor that offers a steady supply of spoiled food. Broccoli is a big hit. A couple of days ago I purchased some bargain school supplies for my friend Kathy, who will return to the classroom in a few days. A small part of me longed to fill my shopping cart with notebooks, journals and packages of paper and once more head toward the challenges and joys of September in the classroom. Instead I will find my way back to my desk and into another book. I am very anxious for that as well as the other jobs of fall like pickle making and harvesting. I will watch the last days of August unfold. To everything a season and right now I will relish this one as it comes to an end. More swimming, more kayaking, more picking beans and peas and more reminiscing.