these days

the days of summer
seem to have raced by

the cool evening air thru the windows so welcome at the end of them
having to be shut out last night

cold in the house this morning

loving my warm shower
wondering which is better
a warm shower on a cool day or
the cool shower after a hot and oh so humid day

loving the melancholy of these transitional days
knowing it is not permanent

I can talk of the long summer days that rushed by
as if summer is all but gone
yet I know there is still labor day weekend
and a beach wedding
and probably a few hot day or two left

and even though I love fall
and appreciate this lingering transition
the cold of winter, the need for a real hot shower to really warm the bones, is real......

I love the juxtaposition of these days though
it is non threatening
missing the heat, because it's not really gone yet
longing for the beauty of the fall days to come
because the chill is not real yet

I just can't believe it is the end of August...September comes tomorrow

our wandering son is home,
the other two have gone back to school...
the baby was three weeks early, and already here
and my best friend will soon really move away

and as swiftly as I feel these days are passing by
and as melcancholy as that makes me feel

I think of these young men in my life

the nephew who will marry in two weeks...
these days are surely too slow...for him

and I think of the ones whose hearts are left half way around the world
time will go by far too slowly till they can be together again

I am grateful for the simple still moments of these days

the raindrops on the pumpkins next to my driveway
the dried grasses along the side of the road
the last sweet corn of summer and sharing the Sunday night meal on the deck
the sun on the green leaves before they turn and change

I am grateful  and have that same missing for my only brother
who visited us this past week
and just feels so comfortable to be around...
perhaps the evidence that we come from the same place...

[a plate from the car parked next to me as I left the hospital parking lot the day after he went home.......]