Falling Back

Hello, blog! Remember me? Well, it has been a solid week since I have been able to post anything for a variety of reasons. Among them are some great things like football season and the kick-off of youth group, and some not so good things like all the normal minutiae of life that takes your time and puts it in the land of lost socks.

I bet you didn't know that time and lost socks both got lost to the same place. When someone asks you, where has the time gone? Just say, it went to the same magic land that your socks go to when you've lost one in the dryer. Em still has a missing sock. I can't believe it's been missing for 6 months... I hope the sock and the six months are enjoying each other in the land of things lost, squandered and forgotten. Perhaps they are on a cruise.

We spent all day Sunday outdoors in the yard, cutting back chaos and removing bad elements. When you stand back after a day like this of hard work and owies, and feel a real sense of accomplishment. The house looks great. I wish I had pictures. The weather was perfect and we even communed for a bit with some of the neighbors.

After we cleaned up from yard work, we went to youth group. Seeing my youth group kids again after 2 months of summer is always quite amazing. The older kids are gone from our protectorate and the younger kids are older and the really young kids are freshmen which is to say they are confused and hardly even in the same species. The boys become more like men, their features filling out rapidly and sharpening in a short time. I tried to write a sentence about the girls about 7 times, but each one sounded creepy, so suffice it to say they grow up, too.

I get nostalgic around these kids. I see them come in as barely adolescents and leave as young adults in 4 years. Those of you who are parents are saying, duh, dumb-ass, where have you been? But I am not a parent so to me it is still marvelous.

I wonder what they will be when they grow up. I wonder if they will make the mistakes I made in spite of my admonishments to the contrary. I wonder if they will remember me when they are my age.

Whether they do or don't, I will keep them close to me. I would like to think I am helping them through the storm of their teens. You couldn't pay me all the money in the world to send me back.

The Grand Rapids chapter of Quota International is having a walk to raise awareness of hearing disorders Sunday, Sept. 26th. We will be hosting friends this weekend who are generous enough to take part. If you are reading this and live in the area, come out and walk, we'll have fun. If you don't live in the area but would like to support Emily and the cause, send a check. Make it out to Quota Grand Rapids.

And so it goes. Things will be very busy all autumn until winter blankets us and it is too cold and snowy to think, let alone do anything. Until then, I will enjoy the fair weather and the sprigs of color just beginning to bloom on some of the weaker pansy trees that can't handle a shorter day. Perhaps my enmity for those wussy trees will be a subject for a later blog post.

Until then, peace.