I always get a little sad when the end of Summer approaches. The blooms on my Rose of Sharon bushes drop off and, what once were beautiful blooms, turn to seed. It makes the birds happy however.
When we get to the end of August it’s a reminder that the last days of Summer are approaching and soon we’ll be in Fall. Of course nowadays the flower growing season goes a bit longer due to climate change. Eventually my little flowers will all die and the world will grow cold. The only highlight about winter for me is that I don’t have to pay the yard service to mow my lawn.
The cold is hell on my arthritis. In the Summer I feel “normal” again and I can go up and down stairs easily and can actually go up and down the steps using alternating legs to maneuver the stairs. In the Winter, I end up doing the “same leg step-down” technique where you use the same leg to either step up or step down on each of the steps. I hate getting old.
I heard someone speculating that we’ll have a big snow this year. I’ll believe that when I see it. Two winters ago, after about a seven inch snow, I bought a Snow Joe automated shovel. It’s a battery operated shovel that slings the snow about eight feet. Of course after I bought the Snow Joe, we didn’t have another snow that year and we didn’t get any snow last year except for the occasional dusting that the wind blew away. Just my luck. So if we get some snow this year, I’ll finally be able to use my Snow Joe.
I’ve never been a fan of the cold. When I do have to shovel snow, I put on my long thermal underwear, bundle up in layers, put on my heavy gloves, cover my face with a heavy scarf and head out.
I remember a friend asked me if I wanted to go to a ski lodge. I replied, “HELL NO!!”
I also told my friend I don’t ski and I have no desire to ski. I’d end up sitting in the lodge bitching about how I got talked into coming to a ski lodge.
Back in the days when I sang in choirs, I hated doing outdoor Christmas concerts. Trying to sing when you’re miserable is not fun. One year I was asked to be in Roanoke’s Dickens of a Christmas concert held in December. If they had it indoors I would’ve done it. But oh no. That concert was outside. I told the person who called me, I don’t do performances in either the blistering cold or in the roasting heat. Years ago I sang in events in July at various shindigs at Elmwood Park in Roanoke. Hated it!! Standing up there sweating your ass off isn’t fun either. I told that person thank you very much but no thanks. Plus it was yet another free performance.
The local event coordinators don’t pay local talent so this local talent quit performing years ago. At least my recordings bring in a small royalty when someone listens to it. I do get a number of listens on my streaming tracks. Not enough to pay the bills but it’s not my main career.
I had a friend, who was a very talented operatic baritone, and who played many principal roles in the Roanoke Opera Society now called “Opera Roanoke”. Back in the mid 1980s there was an upheaval amongst the performers about how little the opera company paid. They had this big “bitch meeting”, I believe it was held at Holiday Inn by Tanglewood Mall. My friend got up and told the opera company’s board that their payment is nothing more than a “minuscule gratuity”. Which was the total truth. I’ve saw the big librettos my friend had to learn when he was doing a role. That was a lot of music to memorize for next to nothing. I’ve memorized large play scripts before and you do work your ass off to get it right.
Back when I was still performing, someone was always calling about doing some benefit. I have done many benefits who have helped many people. However, I’ve said for years, I’ve done so many benefits, that if I do another one, they’ll have to put one on for me.
Back to the end of Summer.
My favorite time of the year is when it doesn’t get dark until after 9:00 PM. I love the hours of extra light. It’s short lived though.
I dislike the short days of Winter. While I’m happiest when it stays light until after 9:00 PM, I’m at my most unhappy when it gets dark around 5:00 PM. The best thing I do in the wintertime is sleep. I also think about what kind of flowers to plant in the Spring. The thoughts of the coming flower season gets me through the Winters.
So I look at the end of August it’s a little less than a month ahead to Fall. Since we’ve had such a wet Summer, hopefully we’ll have some good color this Fall. We’ll see.