Hmm, August Disappeared

 If I had to sum August up in the briefest way, I would say August was the unbearably hot month of tomatoes. We chopped, canned, sauced, baked, and ate tomatoes almost every day of the month. 

 

 

There were other happy ways we spent the month. We had Tuesdays with Violet and those were a delight. I think Violet and I have the same energy. We also like to be a little goofy. We played jacks, pick up sticks, tiddly winks, nerf softball, splashed in the blow-up pool, baked, picked from the garden, sewed, played hide-and-seek, chased each other around the house, swung on the basement swing, and went to the mall once. Violet also turned nine years old this month.  

August was also spent at the sewing machine. The new sewing machine is a game changer. I discovered that sewing gives me the most joy and relaxation. It entirely occupies my thought process and prevents it from running on high speed and thinking in circles, or going off in a million tangents. I can remain focused and therefore have less opportunity to think off and away in the abstract. Sewing is straightforward. For some reason I needed this lately.

The more Steve talks about retiring from full time work, the more I think about aging, what comes next, and how do we approach these last couple of decades of our lives. It certainly brings mixed feelings. I am excited about having more time to do things together. But, ironically, it means time is running out. 

Our last adventure in the month of August was taking the Potamac Eagle train from Romney, WV to Petersburg, WV. This month we celebrated forty-six years of marriage and we booked the Club Car with a light breakfast, lunch, and five-course hors d-oeuvre dinner on board the train. It was a six hour round trip ride with a three hour layover in Petersburg. The train ride itself was lots of fun, the food and service were great, and the club car was very comfortable. The train follows a branch of the Potomac River, through a gorge named "The Trough" by George Washington. Lots of bald eagles live along the river and it was exciting to spot so many along the way. We found that the three hour stop in Petersburg was a little long as there is really nothing to do in Petersburg, WV. There was a cavern tour that we did not book. Had we done that, it might have been time better spent. 

We are on to September!  Here is hoping the temperatures will come down and we can open the windows to let some cool, fresh air into the house!