Saylorville Lake 90 Degrees Humid Sunny
After beautiful fall weather last weekend for our camping soiree with our old group, Mother Nature forgot it is September in the Midwest and reverted to humid hot July weather. A result of the havoc wrecked on the weather patterns buy Hurricane Florence. People are headed to the high school football games in tank tops, toting hand-held fans instead of sweatshirts and stadium blankets.
As I sit in my site here at Volunteer Village grappling with our impending departure date I notice that the brilliant green leaves of the walnuts and cottonwoods are starting to turn bright gold. The oranges and reds of the maples won’t be far behind. Things are out of kilter because of the weather. Mosquitoes are breeding and biting voraciously this week, the sound of boats with twin big blocks still roar across the lake all day. By this time of year boat traffic is normally down to fishing boats and sailboats. The water is still warm since the overnight lows are hovering around our typical September high of low 70's instead of the 50’s like they should be now.
We have had a lot of family and kid time the past two weeks with more to come. We had our grand daughter from the furthest point away all weekend. On Saturday we went to pick up her cousins in Des Moines and spent Saturday with all three. A trip to the Jester Park Nature Center, some painting wood planks outside, Legos and a movie quickly filled a 12-hour day. The weekend wrapped, with Isaac’s first soccer game on Sunday afternoon. This is why we come home to Iowa each summer. There are so many summer destinations where we would like to volunteer, but right now the kids are more important to us than watching a light house in Maine or the U.P. or maybe working in one of the Parks in the Rocky Mountains. We have friends working for the Corps in Alaska this summer. While I am envious of their experience, I can’t imagine going a full year without seeing the kids.
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I watched the hurricanes brush closely to our upcoming destinations and wondered if it’s a mere coincidence that we will come in on the heels of a major hurricane again this fall to our next gig. We are excited about our upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic with our group of friends and family next month. I held my breath as I watched Hurricane Isaac brush the island. No one seemed to notice since Florence was bearing down on the Carolina’s at the same time.
In less than six weeks we will be on our way to Georgia and will experience a new area for both of us. We’ll be doing Visitors Center work like we have done here at Saylorville, but for the National Parks System. We will both be glad for some less physical work for the winter. Especially me, I was told last week that the terrible pain that started in my foot is Plantar Fasciitis. After 53 years with strong, healthy feet I am learning what all the fuss is about. It hurts like hell and I’m following all the orders to the letter hoping to get the angry ligament settled down as quickly as possible. The thought of not being able to hike and walk long distances scares me to death.
In the meantime, there are people we have not seen much of this summer, and still more we want to see every chance we get between now and October end. This is the part where we start to go a bit crazy making plans upon plans trying to savor every last minute of the 2018 Iowa summer season. Like always I will take lots of pictures to soothe my soul over the winter while we are gone. I don't know how grandparents did this before Face Time and Social Media. Talk about roughing it!
Until Next Time…
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