Hey APW,
I was scrolling through photos on my phone this morning looking for something, and suddenly I had scrolled back to “Before” photos from early in the year, before we knew. Photos of travel, hanging out with friends, of cute outfits… of things a simple as kids at school, and working in an office. And it felt like a lifetime ago. Don’t get me wrong, there are things I learned this year that I would never give back, but what a painful journey it’s been.
And now, somehow, its Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer. We’re spending this weekend completing some work on our yard, which accidentally went through a FULL makeover this summer. What started with a rebuilt fence ended with new cement steps, a re-sodded lawn, rock landscaping, a huge tiled patio, mass English Ivy removal, a new retaining wall, another new fence, and expanded deck, and an EPIC treehouse. We did a lot of it ourselves, but also used it as a way to make sure our kids long-time caregiver family had enough work to be ok. Because we all have to survive this together.
I plan to spend the weekend painting, landscaping, and plotting on installing a studio shed to serve as my office and the kids homeschool… because in September 2020, I’ve started to come to terms with the fact that the world has changed forever. There will be a next, but I don’t know what it will be, so I have to make now work.
And while I paint and landscape, I’ll do the internal work of thinking about a COVID fall, which overwhelms me a bit still.
How are you ending your summer, and what are your feelings about fall?
It’s your open thread, hit it!
xo
Meg
P.S. Yesterday was the second anniversary of my Dad’s death, which feels like a lifetime ago… because in life evens, it was. This photo is me a Meow Wolf in Santa Fe on the first anniversary of his death last year. Trying to sit with sorrow and also find joy is still my way forward.
