Summertime Blues

I have no idea what happened to the summer. According to the calendar, we have one more month of it to go. This morning, there was just the slightest hint of fall in the air. My feet actually got cold. Of course I didn't have any slippers on, and we had all the windows in the house open, so...

We had not done any fruit picking yet this summer, so I stopped by an orchard on my way home from work Saturday morning. I pulled in 10 minutes before they opened for the morning, and drove all the way to the back where the blueberries were. Hard to pick with one hand while holding an umbrella with the other, but I managed to fill a quarter of a pail before rain and thunder convinced me to stop. Tim and I went back Sunday morning and picked a much more satisfying 2 pails full. I made a pie for Sunday night dinner (to follow grilled tuna steaks, grilled vegetable medley and corn on the cob...mmmm) and plan to make a batch of jam later this week.

I have been keeping an eye on the elderberry bushes alongside the road we take our walks on. I should be able to harvest some of those soon and make jelly. It always makes me sort of panicky if I'm not taking advantage of what every season has to offer, whether it be fruit, outdoor activities, or holiday events. Like I'm wasting time and letting life slip by.

And I was already worried about Christmas shopping this morning. *Sigh* Do I need some kind of pill??

There are all kinds of festivals going on all around us that we aren't attending, too. Taste of Fenton, Woodward Dream Cruise and Howell Melon Fest all took place this weekend, along with a gigantic Harley Davidson rally just west of here. Never mind that we don't own Hogs, or normally shun giant crowds of people, but... *sniff* It's that feeling of being on the outside looking in. All kinds of fun things are happening, if we would only make the time to attend. I see fireworks going off on the weekend nights I am driving to work, and think, hey, something big and fun is going on somewhere. Meanwhile I am running alcohol levels and urine drug screens on ER patients that were apparently having fun, too. And listening to them yell and scream down the hall while I'm trying to get my work done.

I am glad that Harley gathering is over, though. The sound of thousands of motorcycles going by on 59 and US23 for hours on end got to be downright nerve racking after a while.

I shouldn't complain too much, though. We do have another camping trip coming up soon. And we'll hopefully be doing it in a brand new pop-up. (another source of 'panic': will we be able to sell the old one?? And pack the new one in time?)

Okay, since I put the block of Callebaut milk chocolate I had been hacking at back in the freezer, the only other sensible thing to do now is go to bed.