Normally, I would not be so gung-ho about the last month of summer, but this year I think August is going to be a blessing. July was a month of hard work, harrowing times and harsh weather. It was just plainly too much.
Hottest July on record for this area. Plants, animals & people are suffering. Rainfall amounts lower than ever, water tables dropping, heat exhaustion prevails. Gardens are failing and even the most productive animals are refusing to breed or lay, less milk, crops are not flowering. Food prices soar. More heat related injuries.
Tough time in the economy – jobs are even harder to come and easier to lose than before. Investments are shaky and more unpredictable than normal.
In all this, people are having to go outside their normal circle of family, friends to either work, sell or get help. Technology is more of a hinderance than a help. Finally, finally, people are learning how to make do and how to do without. This is toughest on those aged zero to 30 I think because they have never been much WITHOUT technology and things at their beck and call. No money means a cutback in technology. What – WALK to the store? In this heat? Are you nuts? What do you mean – NO cable? How come I can’t text like everyone else and what’s up with the internet – it’s not functioning right.
So, July reminds me of fun summers at the lake. Birthdays with Grandma. Crops to bring in, fresh food everywhere just ready to pick from the vine. Glorious 4th of July celebrations – a celebration of our nation.
Then mom died – on the 4th of July [at least she went out with a bang!]. No more birthday parties. No trips to the lake, no free time for just fun with the family – everyone is just trying to get by – “Oh, maybe next year”. No more lazy afternoons just reading a book or floating on the river.
For me, July has permanently changed. How to make the best of it? Stay busy. If I can’t go to camp {or lake, park, family reunion – whatever} – then I will work to help me and to help others have a good time. I worked at a couple different summer camps all through July and while, yes, it was hard, long hours in devastating heat; it was truly rewarding. I made new friends. I helped people learn new things and have fun doing something new. I worked with people of every age, race, sex, religion or sexual proclivity; emotional & physically handicapped or just plain normal. [What IS normal these days anyway?] One new step – one rewarding smile, even a tear or two when I had to leave. Emotionally, and morally, I am healed and refreshed while physically, I am exhausted – yet still able to go strong. Mentally, I can happily say I think I am still sound.
So July, this year, was probably one of the hardest I or my family have ever had to endure – but we have emerged into what is typically a more brutal month {August} – with new hope and determination. The glass is more than half full, things are perking UP. What doesn’t kill us makes us strong. Even nature has shown me how she will adapt – a dominant, recessed gene comes out in a plant [my Mysterious Rose]; a fish changes colors [another mystery I haven't written about] to show more beauty; a vine struggles against all odds to bring life while others give up and die. People are being MORE polite – thank you’s, holding doors, allowing traffic to merge, offering respect. I like what hard times are bringing out in some people; maybe even myself. I care, and it comes back.
I haven’t gotten much fruit or veggies from the garden this year as we are in a severe drought.
