Sitting here on a Monday morning, waiting for the thunderstorms to pass through so I can go grocery shopping, I wondered:  How's your summer/winter going?

I have a hard time believing we've gone through seven months already in this glorious year of 2021. It's already back to school for a lot of our kids and grandkids; what happened to summer vacation?  I've seen Halloween displays already.  It's only August and football is on TV.  It's 124 days until Christmas (let's not go there!). Teachers have their classroom plans done for this/next year. I've been planning camping trips with one hand while planning our annual family ski weekend with the other. 

No wonder I feel like I'm dancing the whirling dervish. Has life always gone this fast?

Or has Einstein's time dilation thing just become more real the older I get?

I think there was more order in my life when I worked a full time job. Up at 6, out the door at 7, in the office from 7:30 to 4, come home, make dinner, and squeeze in all my household duties on Saturdays.

Now I'm up anywhere from 6 to 9, household duties every day, creative ventures a good portion of the day (especially now that there's two deadlines approaching), taking advantage of grandkids still off school, getting the car fixed, doctor appointments, camping, mowing the lawn, birthday parties, musical fests -- you know what I mean.

The humidity has zapped my energy (what little I had), the heat has melted part of my brain, and the anxiety of two upcoming craft fairs is kicking my patience out the door.

These are the days that make me think of cold, snowy winter days, nowhere to go, just crafts and hot chocolate and soft, relaxing music and reading a good book and petting my cat. You know -- those Richard Savoie paintings that make you think of gentle winters past.

But whose world is that? Certainly not mine. Ever. I think most of us feel more like a Salvador Dali painting.

My father-in-law used to say he'd sleep when he's dead. I know what he meant. Life's too short -- and time too fast -- to get it all in in one day. You'll never catch up, so why worry about it? Go at your own pace. Prioritize. Then sit and watch the thunderstorms pass through.

How's your summer/winter going?