August

This time is like mid-December. How can you ignore it? Change is in the air. Tuck Everlasting is a children’s classic about drinking from a magic spring and living forever. It’s not my favorite, though I had a friend who taught it to 6th grade every year and even for a lesson to her women’s Sunday School class. It is so popular there is a six and seven week wait list to checkout in local libraries; however, the quote I wanted is well-known enough to be on the internet. “The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. All of us have come to this point climbing through church and school calendars, tending to gardens, going for vacations, or just attention to days of the year. Stop, breathe, look back, and then move on.

Being at the top means not climbing any higher. From this point on, all will be new and moving down to get off this year and start another. Teachers are already beginning meetings and students are gathering supplies to go back to a classroom this week or next. I am deadheading the summer growth and thinking of zinnias on to pansies and maybe renucula that will come for another spring. Just this morning the weather bureau said a disturbance is in the Atlantic, and we have had hurricanes of force in September before.

So turn slightly in your seat while holding the bar carefully to look back. What do you want to cherish that brought you to this point and maybe prepared you to let go of if necessary. Of what will you say, “Whew, I survived that climb?” I’ve read several books on the Camino de Santiago and all emphasize the importance of friends along the way. That’s why I chose this as a verse for the trip down.

I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you.

Isaiah 46:41