|
The Aardsma Weekly
June 8, 2008
Writer: Rachel Aardsma
Summer Fun
Summer is finally here. The stifling heat alone is enough to convince everyone that spring is long gone!
I know summer is here because it is now June. Even though the first day of summer is officially June twentieth, I've always called June first the first day of summer. The temperatures rise, we start picking strawberries, and it feels so much like summer it is impossible to call it spring. (Oh, and speaking of June, Beka's sixteenth birthday is on June twenty-ninth. Since she is turning sixteen this year, it is going to be a big birthday!)
Our new pool is pretty convincing proof that summer has arrived. We spend hours in there every day. For the last week or so I have been in the pool for about two hours every day. I find swimming to be excellent exercise and also lots of fun! Our round, vinyl pool is twenty-four feet from one side to the other, a big improvement on last year's eighteen feet.
Laundry dries on the laundry-line during a hot afternoon. Photo by Mom.
|
We (or everyone but me) are enjoying the vegetable evidence that summer is here. While I am not very fond of the interesting too-much-like-weeds-for-comfort lettuce Mom grows, the rest of the family likes it. We have a very big salad with our lunch every day, accompanied by Italian, ranch, blue cheese, buttermilk, and French dressings. (I've tried all of the dressings in turn, and decided today that blue cheese is the only one that helps with the overwhelming green taste to be found in Mom's strange varieties of lettuce, and her very healthy spinach.) Other vegetables have been enjoyed as well. Radishes, asparagus, green onions, and chives have found their way to our table in good time. I think I like the radishes best. Beka loves them fresh from the garden (she gets them really fresh by picking them and then eating them five seconds later). I love the crunchy, sweet, tangy taste of radishes. They are best with a little dirt on them---I always say that a little extra dirt is just a little extra nutrition!
Of course, with summer comes tornados out here in Illinois. We have already had several tornado watches for our county. Last night a major storm system swept through our area, bringing with it numerous tornado threats and some super-duper bad weather. I was worried for a while that we might get something very bad, but we just got the edge of the storm.
During storm season we always have to be on the alert during storms. "Get your shoes on in case we have to go to the basement!" is a common phrase around here. Since we don't have a basement (just a very old, dirty, spider-infested crawl space), we usually drive half a block up the road to the Catholic church near us. It has a spacious basement filled with seasonal items, rusty chairs, broken pews, cleaning items, nativity sets, and rat poisoning. It has been our "shelter in the time of storm" for as long as I can remember. Someday I will write a book about that old basement.
Caleb gets a little help casting from Matthew during a summer fishing trip. Photo by me.
|
You can't have summer without heat, and if you spend a lot of time outside, you can't have heat without sun burns! I have already had several this summer. I am still recovering from my worst one still. I was outside for two days straight, and even though I wore sun-screen both days I scorched my shoulders. Talk about pain! I spent several days in pain and agony...or something close to it. Currently I just have very sensitive shoulders. It amazes me how the burned skin becomes so sensitive. I brushed my shoulder against the edge of a cardboard box the second day I was burned, and ended up in Beka's room nearly in tears! Beka was very comforting, between spasms of laughter at the absolute absurdity of my accident.
Another thing that the heat produces is a craving for cold foods! On Sunday, our one day of the week that we get ice cream after lunch, the whole family ends up clustered around the carton of ice cream, each eagerly helping themselves. My long-distance best friend (she lives in West Virginia) and I agree that ice cream is a necessity, and especially in summer!
One of the things I could do without in summer is the early mornings. Beka and I are working on adjusting our schedule so that we can work in the garden without frying. This involves getting up at five in the morning.(Beka and I get up then, but the rest of the family sleeps until six thirty, or seven.) We have it pretty much worked out that we get up at five, enjoy a siesta between one and two in the afternoon, and then hit the hay somewhere between eight and nine at night. These early mornings allow for several hours of work before the sun begins shining with an unbearable vengeance. Of course, some days we step outside at five only to find that it is already so warm that a good swim is the first order of business. Thankfully, those days are rare. I am adjusting pretty well to our new schedule, and do enjoy the bonus of a wonderful sunrise each morning. Yesterday's was gorgeous. And Beka and I also get a little time for undisturbed conversation with these early morning work hours.
Matthew and Buddy rest and watch as the family enjoys a fishing trip. Photo by me.
 |
When summer comes we all begin to think about the coming fall and the coming school year. Mom is already beginning to prepare for school. I am feeling slightly overwhelmed with my school-work this year, and I haven't even started yet! I am doing ninth grade in language, history/geography, and science. I am doing both eighth and ninth grade math, something I am not looking forward to. Beka, Matthew, and I are all taking the first year of our two-year Spanish course, something I am looking forward to! Since we are all taking it at once we should be able to talk a little in Spanish to each other by the time we are through. Matthew has already started his Spanish course, and it has been hilarious to listen to him. He speaks Spanish with such a funny accent, I can't help laughing when I walk by his bedroom. He is doing pretty well, though, considering he is not naturally a language kind of person. I am eagerly awaiting the start of my Spanish course, even though I really want to take German. We don't have access to a German program at this time, so I have to settle for Spanish until we can purchase one.
Buddy and my cat choose very different approaches to summer heat. While Buddy spends the hottest hours in well-selected shade, panting dramatically or snoring in peace, my cat chooses the opposite method. She finds the hottest, sunniest spot in our closed bay window to revel in the sunshine and warmth. She spends pretty much her whole day in our window, which provides her with some privacy and security. Mom curtains the window off during the day to keep the heat out of the house, and provides my cat with her own little hide-away. I understand most cats like heat, but what I can't understand is how my kitty can stand the temperatures that the curtained-off window reaches. But I guess we are all entitled to our own enjoyment of the weather.
Summer means late weekend nights for me. We are so busy all week long that I rarely have a chance to work on my Weekly, so Friday, Saturday, and Monday nights are always late ones as I work away on it. I am looking forward to the coming winter days where all there is to do is write articles and drum up witty phrases and spin off poetry! Right now, these pleasing occupations are squeezed into the nine to eleven slot. And sometimes I am just too tired to stay up that late. So, if you have been wondering why the Weekly is being posted on Wednesdays and Thursday instead of the proper Monday or Tuesday, you now know! Of course, it doesn't help that my editor (Dad)is currently miles deep in all sorts of stuff and doesn't always have time to edit a long Weekly. I think he got the picture, though, when I e-mailed him a Weekly to edit and used 'national emergency' for my subject line.
A beautiful summer sunset. Photo by me.
|
Matthew has been very busy, as always. I rarely see him now. We say "Hello" as we pass in the hallway at 5:30 in the morning, and say "Good night" as we do the same at 9:30 at night. That is the amount of our contact on some days! He has begun his regular summer habit of often skipping lunch at home, and either stopping at a fast-food place for a quick meal or just forgetting about lunch altogether. He makes up for his missed meals on Sunday, however, when he eats more then all the rest of us put together!
Summer. A little weather, a little work, a little fun, a little water, and lots of sun! I hope you all have a good summer, and spend some time in your pool or nearby lake, pond, ocean, or even the puddles in the back yard! Get out the lawn chairs, pull out some sunglasses (and don't forget the sun-screen, unless you want to end up like me), fire up the grill, and enjoy some summer fun!
The Weekly Bible Verse
Luke 10:21: At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."
Bits and Pieces
We have enjoyed a rather relaxed week garden-wise, but have kept busy cleaning, organizing, moving, and de-junking inside. We are all gearing up for strawberry season, which is now just around the corner! Everyone has been enjoying a few early berries, eaten warm (and a little dirty) straight off the vine. Customers are falling into line already for our most popular item, and Beka and I prepare for early mornings, aching muscles, sore backs, long days, scorching suns, etc. etc.! Even as we look forward to red berries floating in pink-flushed milk at the end of a long day, I remember all the strawberry seasons that have come before and realize that Beka and I have lots of work ahead of us. The two of us plan to do pretty much all the picking ourselves. The berries are looking absolutely gorgeous. I can't remember the last time we had such big, amazing berries. We did some serious work on our strawberry patch last fall, and it seems to have paid off. Our customers will be getting the best of the best this year!
My cat enjoys a cat-nap on my bed. Photo by me.
 |
Our new pool has received lots of use already, as the days get hotter. Timmy and Caleb are in and out of it all day, and I take an hour-long swim at four o'clock when the weather allows. Beka and Matthew swim irregularly, but Matthew enjoys diving into the water for a minute or two when he gets home from work, just to cool off and get cleaned up a little.
Matthew has been enjoying his first few weeks as an eighteen-year-old. There is a lot of talk about university, applications, forms, new cars, adjusted schedules, professors, classes, and important tests. Mom and Matthew have begun working on the application process. Matthew plans to attend the University of Illinois, located about an hour from here, and plans to begin taking classes and courses with his long-time dream of someday being a veterinarian in mind. He plans to live at home for the first year or two, but these plans may change as the long drive back and forth each day is not a nice prospect. There are a lot of details to be worked out yet, but I am enjoying watching it all from the sidelines and storing information away for the distant day when I will be a high school senior and getting ready to be a university freshman.
A Word About The Weather
The weather was primarily HOT all week. Everything in the garden has begun growing like mad, as the frequent rains and following hot days make for good growing weather.
"Dad, The Cows Are Out!"
There is no "Dad, The Cows Are Out!" this week, but stay tuned!
A Word Of Wisdom
A lot of the dread of doing something can be alleviated by simply doing it.
|
