Farewell Summer 2021

 

               It was such a hot, humid, uncomfortable summer and I am happy to see it go! I really just didn’t enjoy most of it this year, I was too busy being cranky because it was not weather I’m comfortable in. It seems pretty silly now, but that’s probably because beautiful cooler fall weather is here.  September was another fairly busy month, we had Hillary’s birthday, (she had 3 small parties!), and in those waning days of the heat our air conditioning broke and couldn’t be repaired so we had to replace it.  This has been our year for expensive things needing repair or replacing!

               Part of the air conditioning unit is in the attic right outside the door to Hillary’s room in the dining room.  It’s a tight space, and not a big surprise that one of the workmen doing the installation slipped and sent part of the dining room ceiling crashing to the floor.  Thankfully nobody was injured and he didn’t fall through, and I had already gotten Hillary up and into the living room to wait until time to leave for her day program.  It did, however, leave a gaping hole with gross looking insulation hanging down which my brother referred to as an “attic cat”.  Ha ha! My brother can really be a smart aleck!  So for a week we had workmen in the house.  They were pleasant, and did a great job, but there’s always a mess to clean after any home improvement.  I think I’ll be finding dust for months to come in spite of wielding broom, vacuum, and mop when everything was done.  The chattiest guy was the contractor the HVAC company hired to repair the hole in the ceiling.  He looked like Shaggy from the Scooby Doo cartoons, and had lots to say about any subject that popped into his head.  I learned that his girlfriend is selling her house and moving to North Carolina, but I’m not clear on whether or not he’s moving there with her, or just helping her sell her house here and find a new one there.  He drives his 91 year old mother to lunch every day, and helped an 82 year old friend pack up and move to a senior living community.  His friend seems to be  feeling sad and isolated so he’s (Shaggy) thinking of starting a game night with friends at the 82 year old’s new apartment to keep him socially active and sharp of mind.  Shaggy’s a nice person, and he did a great job doing the repair, but I was exhausted after he left from all the conversation.  Of course, I’d rather have someone like that working in my house than a cranky, swearing under his breath, in a big hurry to leave person.  I didn’t take his picture, of course, but there is a before and after of the hole below.

               It was also Daughter’s Day, which is probably a holiday made up on social media, but it was an opportunity to share a picture of and say something nice about my girls so I figured, what the heck?  That picture is also below.  I didn’t include any pictures of the birthday parties, and by some standards they weren’t really parties, but in our little corner of the world if you send in cupcakes on someone’s birthday that’s a party.  If you buy a little cake and write “Happy Birthday” on it, add candles, have some gifts for the honoree, that’s a party too even if there’s only 3 of you besides the birthday girl.  Also, if you invite 3 more people on a different day, put out snacks, order pizzas and have an ice cream cake and sing “Happy Birthday”, that’s a party too.  So those were Hillary’s 3 parties to celebrate her.  We all deserve to be celebrated by family and friends, don’t you think?

               So I say farewell to Summer and hello to Autumn!  I love the chilly dry air and brilliant sunshine, and the cool rainy days as well.  I can’t wait for all the colors to come to the trees and see that first heavy frost coating the grass.  It’s so refreshing!

                                                             Attic Cat

                                                        Much better!

                            Fierce, brave, and each special in her own way.