Monday, August 29, 2016

Monday in Late August

I just got back a short time ago from an evening walk. It was 80 degrees by late afternoon, so the evening was lovely, warm and calm. The sun sets a lot sooner now, about 7:45, but the twilight still lingers for quite a while. 

We live in such an international neighborhood. This evening a group of Pacific Islanders were meeting and singing in a makeshift chapel in a garage. Then just up the street members of the Ethiopian mosque/community center were arriving for one of their frequent gatherings.

Across the street from the mosque, Sikhs were walking on the track at the elementary school, the ladies dressed in their saris. Closer to home a Latino family was spilling out into their yard, having come together for some occasion. We all nod and greet each other in passing. 

I was walking in the evening because we were busy today. We spent most of the day with the grand kids while Jill was at teacher meetings. Isaac and Irene had just returned Sunday night from a week in South Carolina, visiting their dad and his family. They had a great time, even had the opportunity to help baby loggerhead turtles make it safely to the sea. Now they were happy to be home and were taking it slow. 

We did manage to get them unpacked and the laundry mostly done and put away. Irene painted - she is quite the artist- and Isaac played slug. He was grumpy because the reality of returning to school on Thursday had set in. Irene said she wasn't happy about it either, but was just trying not to think about it. 

After lunch we took the kids to do their shopping for school supplies. Jill had already gone over the lengthy lists and they had collected the stuff they already had on hand and highlighted what we needed to buy. Off we went to Staples to hunt and search and compare prices and collect the items on the list. Some were easy, some not so, like six poly pocket folders, one each of six different colors. We made a rainbow. 

That done, we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Isaac's grumpiness was gone. Back at their house, we got all the items sorted and stored in their backpacks, ready for school. Now they can enjoy their last two days of freedom. 

Yes, summer is coming to an end. It has been an easygoing summer for Tom and me, and our summer will continue, as it can for retired folks. For the kids it has been an amazing summer, full of adventure, from Colorado and Wyoming to Whidbey Island to Crater Lake and the California redwoods, to the Oregon coast to South Carolina. Wow!  I wonder if they know how fortunate they are. 


13 comments:

  1. Wow, they DID have an awesome summer! And glad you spent a lovely day with them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Irene and Isaac truly are lucky! Sounds like a great summer of adventure for them! While I've missed my students and look forward to seeing them again, I'm wishing that the carefree days of summer could linger just a bit longer. Thursday is our first day with kids. A nice way to ease into the routine, a two day week, three day weekend, four day week and then full speed ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Irene and Isaac truly are lucky! Sounds like a great summer of adventure for them! While I've missed my students and look forward to seeing them again, I'm wishing that the carefree days of summer could linger just a bit longer. Thursday is our first day with kids. A nice way to ease into the routine, a two day week, three day weekend, four day week and then full speed ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! Your new background photo is amazing. You should put together a photo book of your shots around the PNW - it would make a great coffee table book. Love your posts and feel like I know your family from following them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This was nice to read. Nothing like Dairy Queen to take away grumpiness. It affects me the same way.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! What an awesome header photo, Linda. Thank you so much for keeping in touch and keeping my spirits high. I've been so focused on trying to get all our photos organized and selected for photobooks on top of everything else I'm trying to get caught up on since our crazy summer.

    My granddaughter has already gone back to school in the Chicagoland area. Kids in Hawaii are back at school too. You guys are the best grandparents! Dairy Queen would cheer anybody up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your header photo, too!!
    Your grands are lucky in being able to start school in September as opposed to August for so many places! It was always after Labor Day when I was in school that we started back. No A/C back then and it's always been hot in Texas!
    You and yours are blessed, indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Irene & Issac have truly had an amazing summer. Just the part I saw pictures of was awesome and there was so much more. Your neighborhood is even more mixed than mine. Sometimes I feel like it's the United Nations around here. I future that's good for me, broadens my world.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am always pleased to join your family in your seasonal adventures. They take the place in some ways for the grandchildren I am not lucky enough to have had. And of course your pictures bring it all to life for me! If I would have hd the summer those kids had, I wouldn't be thrilled to go back to school, either! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had no idea that your neighborhood was so multicultural. How interesting. I bet you are glad to have the grandchildren back. They truly have had an amazing summer. Transitions can be difficult, but ice cream always make those transitions easier.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am so anxious for fall but I am not quite ready to turn loose of summer. I didn't do school supplies this year but I did help with the back to school clothes. The Grand Girl had grown a good bit during the summer. I think she will be long and lean and smart as a whip, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would be a bit grumpy that all that travel adventure is put on hold to go back to school myself. Fortunate indeed. I took my grandkids shopping on Monday and they have their first day of the new school year today. I think they were happy to go back to see friends. Even though my grandson does call me his "BFF, older version."

    ReplyDelete
  13. Loved your iridescent clouds. Robin at New Darma Bums sees them all the time. I am beginning to think they are a west coast phenomenon as I have yet to see any.
    How cool the kids got to go on a turtle safari. I went on one years ago sponsored by the Fl Game and Fish Commission and still remember the joy of helping those baby turtles into the sea.

    ReplyDelete

I would love to read your comments. Since I link most posts to Facebook, you may comment there if you do not have an account. I have eliminated Anonymous comments due to spammers.