Lately

Not to be coy, but that post about burning the book is still hiding in draft while I figure out what to do with both of them. Maybe sticking my head in the sand and doing nothing is a wise choice for me right now. I decided no spleen venting this post, just something light and lovely.

I got my camera out and asked it how things have been, cooped up in the case for so long. We used to go for daily walks, but I got lazy after the surgery and I'm just now regrouping. All those other summer pictures were taken with my very old pocket Canon, the one with the gray spot on the lens I have to correct out.  I wasn't willing to take my new, more expensive camera to the sandy beaches, and it's been underused and lonely. So we got reacquainted.  This is what we've seen this week:

Rose hips as large as cherries. I really mean to make jelly with them one of these years.

Coneflowers in the loveliest hues.

A flock of birds in my half dead oak. Couldn't ID them with my eyes alone.

Thanks to the zoom, I know the cedar waxwings are back. I haven't seen them in years!

Black eyed susan volunteer in the middle of my pachysandra patch.

Viburnum leaves turning early thanks to the extreme drought.

Lovely shade of orange.

The fairy shrub roses I thought were dead and gone came back to life for one more bloom.

And last, but not least,

Not in my yard, but in my world, our Varsity Volleyball team. We're so proud of our daughter, who set her sights on the JV team and soared even higher. Shes the smiling face at 8:00.

I'm trying not to cry all day as I make piles of things for my son to take to college next week. It's not that he's leaving, maybe, because he'll only be an hour away. It's that he's all grown up and everything is changing so fast that I can't keep up. I suck at change. I'm so proud of my kids and so happy for them, but also anxious and worried about every little thing and especially every big thing. I don't know how to turn down the volume on my emotions. I wonder, when I'm really old if I'll just cry all the time with joy and sorrow? Or will I be able to smile and laugh and let it all go like my sane Grandma did, right up to the very end. I'm not interested in my other Grandma's fate, trapped in her lost mind.
As if any of us has a choice in these matters.

That's all for this week. I was supposed to keep things light. Failed at that one. Oops.

Anyhow...

The camera and I have some exploring to do.

See you next time.