Pennies in the fountain
The frogs and crickets have taken to the early mornings, their chirps greeting the sunrise through hot, thick air. It’s a sure sign of late summer in these parts, and they are awakening in me the audacity to believe that time actually is going forward. What a long year it has been, even at two-thirds through. The pandemic has been a global pause button, in many ways a wonderfully refreshing blessing. In others, a frustrating monotony of loneliness and laziness. There may never be a normal again, but there will be a schedule, and it will be an absolute beast to get used to. The boys go back to school next week. And when I say school, I mean the building. The teaching, the learning, the shaping of their minds, the broadening of their horizons - all this is up in the air. Oh how I hope they learn. Watching them lay around all day every day because it’s too hot to go outside and while I’m working I don’t have time to coax and guide them through chores, I just can’t take much more of it...