Summer's End

Every summer adds a unique chapter to our lives. When I think back to all the summers I remember as a kid I always remember fun times spent with friends when we use to swim in the river, pick sweet juicy peaches out of the orchard that were the size of today's small cantaloupes. We would wash them from any neighbor's garden hose we would pass along the way. I remember the collection of baby frogs I insisted on keeping in my bedroom until the day they all got loose and my mom made me get rid of them. I gave them to trusted friends who promised they would return them to me as soon as mom calmed down. I remember the boys who would sit on the fence outside my bedroom window and talk to me until dad would come out and chase them away. There are countless memories that confirm my recollection of having a wonderful childhood. Aside from a few scattered days of unbearable heat, summers are and always will be a treasure cove of new beginnings to friendships, book lists, and travel itineraries that elude to deeper meanings of self discovery and personal growth that I myself do not even recognize until some time later. This summer has been no different. Many things standout but my favorite memory of this summer was when the entire family went ice blocking. This "sport" had only been recently introduced to me by Kristin one night when she kidnapped me and promised to end our boredom by showing me what she and her friends liked to do. I had so much fun with her that I couldn't wait for the next weekend to arrive so that everyone could go. So with ice blocks in tow (at 10:00p.m.) we arrived at a nearby park with steep, grassy hills where we each firmly sat upon our towel covered ice and slid down the hill. The trick is to balance the bum and outstretched legs in such a way that you go real fast until you either reach the bottom or you crash. Walking back up the steep hill went virtually unnoticed as we were always laughing and racing each other and apparently it was the laughing that ended our late night of fun because it marked the first time in our family's history that we got booted out of a park by policemen who said we were being too noisy. My tailbone ached for weeks but I would do it all over again!

Last evening I was working in the garden and I happened across a rather large Praying Mantis. I got the camera out (me being the shutterbug I am) and began taking close-up pictures of her. She was quite aware of me as well, as her pose for the camera will attest. If you click on the picture above, it should enlarge to show the detail. It looks as though she was posing for the camera, but in fact she was just keeping a watchful eye for her own safety. Knowing she is a beneficial bug to my garden, I thanked her for the photo shoot and let her go about her business. I do love all the sweet little signs that summer is almost over because I can reflect on all that it offered and look forward to what fun things might occur in the fall.