AS THE SEASON ENDS

By Holly the Assistant

Yesterday, I saw the first harvest warning from local law enforcement. The annual harvest has started, slow down for farm equipment, your itty bitty plastic car will not beat a two lane wide hunk of slightly rusty metal older than you. More politely worded, of course.

The schools are gearing up to start: Bus Drivers Wanted!, law enforcement checking the school zone signs still work, the big downtown college welcome back fair, where local vendors show off what they have available to separate the college students from their financial aid, er, show off their wares, and the state fair is advertising heavily for the upcoming festivities.

Climate wise, it’s still summer. The hottest days of the year should lie ahead. (This year has been a touch odd, weather wise, here. Not unprecedented, just not normal. Eh, it’s one of those states where the ‘wait five minutes and it’ll change’ really does apply to not liking the weather.) The garden’s been weird, and the late frosts and birds wiped out all the tree fruit so far.

For a long time, as home schoolers, we met the back to school season with rejoicing: cheap notebooks and the good pencils! National and State parks empty of people! Weather still good and crowds gone! But as the kids grew up, it started to affect us more: back to school also meant return to enrichment activities, early enrollment college classes, actual regular college classes, etc. Now it’s fitting in a couple responsibilities I have to local and state youth organizations that need to get wrapped up before the youth are tied up in school, and the opening of the local civic symphony season.

Which is, that last, why you’re getting a fairly short note today. I’m running off to a pre-season music workshop this morning. Sarah is . . . I think working on furniture, weather allowing, though she might be supervising house painters and flooring contractors. I got an update on a book last night, along with “ragweed pollen, my head is killing me”, so she’s still alive, though the ragweed should probably be watching for axes.

If you are in the areas that have been burning and are now getting the misnamed monsoon thunderstorms, please keep your eyes open for burn scar mudslides. I know of at least one road closed indefinitely in my region. If you are in the area of I-70 that decided to wash out, be mindful of your roads, as well.

And please keep us posted, all you with medical events and natural disasters. We do note and worry about you.