Random thoughts 3

Sitting outside the cottage at the, cedar red, picnic table, the morning sun massages his back, the placid river flows towards the Gulf of St. Lawrence, dragging the summer-time to his friends downunder. It's the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, his last days at the camp for this summer.  The past a memory, the future imaginary.

Exhausted last night after a full day of administering anesthesia, then the three hour drive in Labor Day traffic, he looked forward to supper with his wife and two youngest grandchildren at their favorite hometown diner.  But, alas, they arrived to an eatery full to the rafters with patrons attending a birthday party.  Being told the wait would be close to two hours they decided to dine,  at McDonald's, ten miles down the road.  The last time he'd eaten a 'burger from McDonald's was in 1995, when the grandchildren's father was 17.

After a restful slumber on a cool late summer night, he awakened to the thumping of a three year old's feet exploring the camp for grandma.

Every time he makes the three hour trip, he thinks of a co-worker's daily, two hour drive to work; where does he get the energy?  It dawned on him that he was plenty old enough to be said co-worker's father.  Not only does he drive 4 hours everyday, work 8 hours, when he arrives home he has bees to keep, wood to cut and chop, a garden to tend and harvest, and attend to a wife's needs.

It seems for the best when we can accept the passing of the seasons, both in nature and life. Holding on to summer can only bring an accumulation of disappointments. Better to embrace each new season for the wonderment it portends, and like the river, flow on 'til it disappears.

But for  now, I'll go fishing with the new spring of my life; 3 year old Ethan.

Autumn will have to wait for another day.