Summer Begins

 Summer is here with warmth and sunshine and green grass. The leaves burst out of the bare branches overnight seemingly and the water temperature on the surface of Lake Windigo last night was a swim-able 74 degrees. We asked the family who was tubing last night if it was really warm enough. Mr. looked at his boat dash and informed us the exact temperature. So! Summer is here.
    Along with lawn mowing, AC installation, and pretty patio baskets. And hot, humid days followed by thunder storms.

It was an eventful spring. In the end, Amy married her Tim. The wedding was small in our own simple style, but woodsy pretty. We are grateful for all of our family and friends who helped make it a lovely celebration. More on this later with pictures.
   For now the days of summer work followed by evenings of canoeing or yard work are here. It feels especially nice this year, maybe because of that long winter.
   It seems especially nice to me also because we are now in the era of "after the wedding".  Now summer may commence as it will with crazy days at work where customers are pleased or not as they will. And with campfires and weekend jaunts to see friends or family hither to the north shore or thither to Nebraska or Sparta as we will. And of logging, safely tucked inside cool, clean cabs away from the heat, dust, and bugs of our northern Wisconsin days.
    This posting is just for momentum. Scribblings have all but stopped for the last few weeks for real reasons. But I don't want them to stop. There are many weddings and funerals going on, it's hard to find time to process these things in my mind as they happen, not to mention blogging. Sometimes I think that time is actually going faster than it ever has before. 
    
  

So we defied the flying minutes and went canoeing. On Lake Windigo, in the evening, time seems to stand still. I observed from the middle of our red and white canoe, Elv's life jacket for my cushion, that we have two pairs of loons living there this summer. On the east shore of the small island there is a pair of blue herons nesting. They were quite anxious about our approach and hoped with hovering squawnks that we would not discover their nest. There's a pair of mallards nesting on the opposite shore of our favorite fishing hole, and the Canada geese pair have made their nest right near the fishing hole itself. Mrs. Goose was very unimpressed with our presence. Lucky for her we hadn't gotten our fishing licenses yet.
    We stayed and paddled around looking at all our old haunts to see what's what this year. We found a floating log out in the water off one of the islands just lying in wait to kill someone's prop. So Elv hung on to the tip of the iceberg so to speak and Brad and I hauled on the oars to bring it to shore. We felt a bit triumphant to leave it resting along side another downed tree that the DNR has anchored to it's own stump. The fallen trees will shelter fish we hope to catch this summer. We saw that there are designated, accessible places along the shores of the islands to have picnics or camp. Maybe we will picnic there this summer sometimes.

In The Midst

  Ten days until Amy's wedding. It's been wild. Suddenly spring came for real making it possible to do the yard work. Everybody came and helped us here at the Stone House and then Elv and I cleaned and raked even more after that. And hauled tires and recycle-able metal away. Tires cost and metal pays. And it is not even at all. Funny world.
    I always get this urge to write it all down in my journal over coffee in the morning and to read books between prayers and bedtime. I scribble detailed lists and then finally cave in to writing on the blogspot, too. I read Kathleen Norris's book entitled Mother in the last twenty-four hours and wondered about authors and their little soap boxes and mine. Will mine every produce a readable novel? Maybe in the middle of the busiest of times someday. Anyway, reading is my escape from all the demands.
    What if I forget something important on wedding morning. Or what if there isn't enough food. I don't actually spend much time worrying about these things... I can't. I just can't even think of not getting this right. So I won't think about it. So I don't. But the last ten days are fraught with the care of timing orders for flowers and food and of phone calls and making sure everybody knows what they should know. And of finishing up things at the right time. The flowers are coming to our door here on Thursday according to the ordering we did online with Sam's Club. I haven't talked to a person. Just made an order on the computer. If those roses don't show up here on Thursday, I'll...what will we do? Another thing that I refuse to think about. All this not thinking of potential disasters and of working on not forgetting anything important and checking the things off my four or five lists that I keep adding to or crossing off. It makes me dizzy. Soon I'll have to have a list of my lists.
 

The wonderful people helping us along way must know that we are very grateful.
    Elv pulled me away from work half an hour early today and we did the weekly grocery shopping together. He had been on his feet all day doing repairs for Farmer Bob and his back was killing him. He finally asked to push the cart at Wal-mart to lean on it. I wondered when he was going to finally take over the cart. Everything took too long. We'd been to Miller's Market for cheese, and Kwik Trip for gas and then at Wal-mart we pulled up to the check out to the very slowest clerk we have ever encountered, ever. I kid you not. Maybe she was tired and in pain too, I suppose. We arrived home to laundry and dishes to do and the car full of groceries. The groceries came in. Then Elv offered to make supper while I whipped through the dishes and folding laundry and Brad built a fire in the stove downstairs because at last it has turned cool and rainy as per hugely needed. My man takes such very good care of me and us. He cooks on a crazy evening like this one or on another day shows me how to get a margin right here by having coffee midday.
    Elv says he has ordered 125 feet of the best clothesline there is from L&M. Should be in by the weekend. But I wonder, when am I going to hang out laundry yet, too. But I will. And read my books and learn my music.Which brings me to a miracle moment for me. In the middle of all of this I have re-discovered my piano. And a new song. A new song besides the Festival sheet music that I am learning. Like there isn't quite yet enough to do, so I add in another thing.
   Every day interesting packages arrive. It's fun. Last week while I was working on making the patio into our usual summer oasis, the mail carrier handed Elv two big boxes at the back of the house at the same time as the UPS handed me a package in the front. Kettles, lace, shoes, and you name it all addressed to Amy Graber. She opened a carefully arranged six yards of table lace the other day and the dearest little sewing kit fell out into her hands, a blue lace covered box with pins and thread and do-dads completely complimentary.
   Amy is getting married in ten days. But Brad is planning a canoe trip with Timmy for this summer. And researching their canoe trail and planning their outfit and possibly buying a canoe. So we all have our goals and dreams providing us purpose for living.
   And to keep the house from turning into complete mayhem I have asked Lou to do the weekly cleaning for us these three weeks over the wedding time. It's amazing to find our little house all spic and span when the four of us gather home in the evening. I had time to bake bread and play piano last weekend on Saturday for a change. I'm considering how we could make excuse to continue having her.
    I'll resist the urge to make yet another list here of what still must be bought and done and finished by simply closing this scribbling. Goodnight and sweet dreams.