A strange thing happened. I awoke this morning trying to grasp the notion that our six months in Iowa went by like a rambling active dream in a fitful night’s sleep. April 20th, the day we arrived at Saylorville last spring feels like both yesterday and a short lifetime ago. The 2019 summer season at home saw many joyous events.
Our first day back we went to the zoo with kids and
grandkids. The pace of events picked up as we held our annual Mother’s Day
Breakfast with all our kids and grandkids, celebrated the spring birthdays. We
started our work for the park and settled into our routine. Our oldest
grandson’s wedding was in mid June then the heat of July settled over us. As we
savored the summer, we didn’t notice the tail wind of time passing that was
picking up behind us.
Holidays and more birthdays came and went. Friends visited us here at Volunteer Village. I was able to spend time with family I had not had contact with for years and my heart was happy. There were others we fully intended to see but, it didn't. Grand kids were present each week several times most weeks. The grass that, earlier in the season, demanded mowing every few days was starting to go dormant in the heat and I worked on other projects around the lake in between researching and writing items for the newsletters. I had regular play dates with my best friend and that subtle tail wind pushed on my back, but I didn’t notice.
We celebrated my daughter’s 30th milestone
birthday and several other summer birthdays. We worked our shifts at the State
Fair for the lake and the heat of summer kept us suspended in the joy of being
home.
Then, all a sudden it happened. Four times pulling out of our site to join our old camping group, three village potlucks, three lake sponsored volunteer events and uncounted spontaneous village community campfires were a memory along-side the 8 weeks I worked for my friend and our 720 volunteer hours at the lake. When I look back on the lightning fast season it’s like watching a movie reel of the big events punctuated by clips of scenes from Little League games, being at the park with grandkids, being at our kids houses, outings with friends. The memory of this past summer is like watching a time lapsed video of a flower sprouting, growing, blooming and drying down in the span of 10 seconds.
Hunter is very glad to see Grandpa! 
Riding the train at the zoo 
Fielding a line drive 
New baby in the family! 
Isaac birdwatching with me 
Got Mulch? 
Building her new nest 
Workout as he tests monkey bars 
Sydney's Birthday in April 
Nora with me on a photo shoot 
The Happy Couple 
Nora and Isaac almost 5 years old already 
Sailboat heading out of the marina at sunset 
Water Break Time 
On path driving just ahead of the storm 
Powerwashing Bridge 5 
Judy standing on the stump from the giant Oak that fell at the VC 
Prairie Flowers scavenger hunt with the boys 
Areal view of the fair from the sky glider 
Nora and Grandpa park time 
Staying cool on a hot day 
Camping like old times 
John setting up the scope to watch shorebirds 
Craft time on a cool morning 
Campfire time 
Kelsy and I 
Two of my favorite gentlemen Will and Don 
Fall dinner 
Parking lot rides 
Walking with Aubry on the trail 
The gang at Steve's 
Goodnight Saylorville
I woke up this morning, knowing the week will buzz by with preparations to move our life 1600 miles south to escape winter. Tasks and last of the season visits will fill the next 4 days. We are both fighting the yearly fall battle with the sadness of leaving loved ones behind and anticipation of adventure that our trip south holds. We will have our first experience working for a private resort this year. We'll visit new places and meet new people. We will reunite with friends we have made on the road and spend next weekend with relatives at a festival on our first stop south. With a heavy shroud of the familiar mixture of angst and excitement we will pull up the jacks and bring in the slides in 4 days and a wake up. We notice that tail wind at our backs now, because it is cold. As we drive away, we will wonder to ourselves, maybe even out loud. “Where the hell did the summer go?”
Until next time…
Lovely post!
ReplyDeleteBut we wouldn't trade our lives on the road for anything right now, would we?
ReplyDeleteEVERY year goes faster!!
ReplyDeleteEVERY year goes faster!!
ReplyDeleteEVERY year goes faster!!
ReplyDeleteYou are right about that!
ReplyDelete