Summer at the Lake

Yes, it's been awhile since I have written a blog post. Since the last one, I had taken a new job working for an online writing service. Alas, I had been seduced by the assumption I would be able to do more article writing; quickly I learned I would be assigned to updating an online product catalog. That was ok for awhile and was a good technical learning experience, but not a good long term plan for me.

 After that I got an excellent job offer for a position that was more suited to me, but then had to turn it down because of some emergencies in my family. It was a strange spring, with challenges mounting up over and over again; a time of anxiety, just having to put one foot in front of another, a time to just keep breathing and surviving.

I haven't had as much support over the years with a couple of my problems as I have needed. I'm not programmed to be good at asking for help, either. I'm trying to fix that though. I am doing better now, regardless - and I looked at the calendar and it's what - July? Too much time has passed.

One thing that is wonderful, though, is the reality in which I have access to a summer getaway place. It makes it possible to rest, and to enjoy peace and quiet. No sounds of city noises; excited birds chirping become the sounds that awaken me. It's often we hear the twang of big bullfrogs and the booms of summer thunderstorms.

We are bombarded with information, social media, and the rush of our modern, consumer-driven society. We have forgotten how to lead simple lives. Our kids spend hours on the Internet and are shuttled to and from games and sports workouts. We work harder and harder to please stockholders we don't know. It feels blasphemous to even say these things.

Yet it's so restorative to watch the changing moods of the sun, the wind, the water. There's nothing like experiencing the phases that each entity takes as the clouds and sun move across the sky. One can almost feel as well as hear the sounds of a freight train at a distance in the humid air. Young children spring up taller like weeds before our eyes. Wildflowers surprise us in the tall grass. We see insects that perplex us, that we can't quite identify.

One might see a song bird attacking the head of a hawk, or a mink family running across a country beach. To have that kind of beauty in front of one's eyes - it has healing powers that no psychiatrist can replace with a prescription. So here's to summer, and more summer days ahead. I've got some great summer fun planned soon, and I'm going to be blogging about it. It's time.