Labor day weekend

 The last weekend of our summer is over. It burned bright and ended softly like the embers of the last campfire. It was a wonderful weekend filled with family and friends, food and drink, fun and more fun. I have such a blessed life. I am thankful for every day.
    Our weekend was shortened as I had to work Saturday and arrived at the lake at 4 o'clock Saturday  afternoon as opposed to Friday evening. It was a great weekend all the same. Monday morning we woke early to see  a lake as smooth as glass. Mandy and I woke our daughter and headed for the boat. We were  the only boat on the water at 8am save a few fishing boats. I hope we didn't disturb their morning too much. The air was cold and so was the water but it was the last time we would be able to ski this year and the best water we had seen all season. We all took our turn behind the boat while our friends were just stirring around the morning campfire. I couldn't help letting out several rebel yells as I took my turn on the water. It was amazingly flat and my ski cut through the water like butter. It was the perfect way to end a perfect summer.

The boat is washed waxed drained covered and in the garage. The trailer is home and covered as well. The skis, tube, and wake-board, are stored and the wet suits and ski vests are hanging in the closet. There is a chill in the air today. It is like a switch was flipped and summer turned to fall. The rain came with thunder and lighting yesterday announcing the change in seasons. This sounds poetic and yet it is the absolute truth. Soon the country air will be a haze with wood smoke. I love the smell of fall. I feel like hibernating. I wish I was a bear. The colors will soon begin to change. How is it that there is so much beauty in death? The fall season is my time of reflection. The days grow shorter, the nights colder. A good book, a warm fire, and a bowl of potato soup become my best friends. Of all the seasons, fall is my second favorite. My body is still tan and I look and feel in shape from the summer activities. It is my time to try and fill the freezer. Salmon are in the river and there will be many good clamming tides. Deer and elk season will provide meat and pepperoni if I have any luck at all. Winter will soon arrive. I will become pale and start to look like a cancer patient. The sky will be grey. The days will be short. The world will sleep. Its funny to me how the seasons represent our life. Spring is our birth. Winter our death and yet even in the darkest of winter spring is just around the corner.