Actually back on the laptop to write this
one. First time I’ve written a post on
the laptop in about two years. All
others have been done on the iPad, in that time. Part of the reason for that being the
slowness of my laptop. But I turned it
on, yesterday, for the first time in two months, and it’s working pretty
well. So I figured “why not”.
Cough is just about gone. I’m down to an occasional, throat clearing
type of cough. And it isn’t interrupting
my talking with coughing spurts anymore.
One month… and I’m pretty well back to normal.
Went to war with Yellowjackets this
week. Last week, I was stung while
putting the cover back on the BBQ. This
week I found a small nest on the underside of the BBQ. Sprayed it… and I figured it was all done
with.
The next day I found another small
nest. This time in my backdoor light
structure. I thought these things were
territorial yet, in two days, I found two nests within five feet of each
other. More spraying took care of this
one. And I took the hose to it too, to
get rid of the bits of nest left behind.
The following day, I notice yellowjackets
going in and out from part of the siding of the house. More spraying (three times in three days
within a 10 foot space).
I think it may be done (knock on
wood). Since then I’ve seen a few
yellowjackets fly through the yard. But
haven’t seen any perch anywhere around the house.
I also have had a small battle with
backyard ants. A while ago, I noticed a
little squad of them around my patio stones.
But I thought “if they’re going to stay around there, I’ll leave them in
peace”. But now I’ve noticed that
they’ve pretty well laid claim to my entire back patio. Scurrying about looking for food. So I took out the spray bottle and had a
go. I may have gotten some of them… but
that is a war that surely is not won.
I booked a flight home. The annual, September trip is a go. I won’t be there overly long but it’ll be a
solid week. Not sure if Fogo Island will
be included or if I’ll just stay around town. I had been back and forth about going this
year. Wondering if I’d be better staying
in Ottawa and having more available vacation time to help mom and dad with the
condo in the fall. But, in the end, the
deciding factor was the knowledge that if I didn’t go in September, I likely
wouldn’t go until next summer. That
would have meant being away from Newfoundland for a year and a half. When, in the past, I’ve been going home about
three times a year, the idea of going once in eighteen months just didn’t seem
right.
Summer Dreams
I used to dream of summers.
Being woken by the morning brightness.
No other season could match
The summer glow
Against my bedroom wall.
Summer lasted forever then.
With school’s end
It brought a year of adventures
Sports, sleepovers, backyard play and family
trips
All packed into months of golden green
warmth.
Years later, summertime work has never
seemed right.
What was spaced over months back then
Is now crammed into a few weeks.
Strict bedtimes and alarm clocks
Shedding the magic of summer youth.
In fact now I prefer the autumn.
With comfy fleeces to keep us warm,
Backyard wasp battles over and won.
And the postcard beauty of changing leaves
Making the forests a quilt of colour.
But nothing replaces those summer memories
Which come trickling back
In those quiet moments of newly woke
mornings
Bringing a warm, childhood glow
To my adult home
So many years away.
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