First, my apology for not having posted in some time.  Work and chronic health issues have occupied the majority of my time the past few months, and that has left me with little free time to put together a post.  It seems that every time I try to get into any kind of rhythm on posting, life has a habit of creeping in and making things interesting.  Or, as we are fond of saying in our house, “Man plans, God laughs”.

If you have read any of my previous posts, you know that the passing of time is a key theme in my writing.  Time is a very precious commodity, and that has only been made more clear to me these past few years when very large chunks of it were almost exclusively dedicated to fighting cancer.  This past year, for a change, has been dedicated to healing and recovery, as well as an attempt to create as much normalcy as possible in my daily life.

To that end, I have discussed my recent attempts to make peace with the less than sunny and warm weather that occupies much of the Pacific Northwest throughout the year.  I have tried to find winter’s beauty, like densely foggy mornings, as well as enjoy spring’s seemingly endless show of early blooming plants, often covered in cool morning mist.  And given that our cool, wet weather this past year was quite mild, my task was reasonably accomplished.

Nonetheless, like many who live in this part of the country, summer is still the season I treasure the most.  Warm sunny days, followed by cool evenings are truly seductive after months of cool and rainy weather.  So, thoughts of summer approaching start steadily building momentum in my mind sometime in the middle of February, and by late May or early June, they are running full steam.

But, despite having lived in the Pacific Northwest for more than a quarter of a century, every year it seems that I almost always forget that, as much as I may desire, summer is not a destination, but rather just a point along the journey.  So, I try my best to remember the quote that has often been attributed to John Lennon – “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans”.  For, you see, it is so easy to get caught up thinking about what things can be done during our brief summers, that it is very possible to miss a good portion of it if you fail to switch gears and get into the present.

I am reminded of the expression about not blinking while driving, as you might just miss something that comes upon you quickly, and that lasts only for a brief moment.  I know that summers occupies a quarter of the year, and if you add late spring and early fall to it, you can cobble together almost half of a year of mild temperatures.  But, somehow it always seems that summer passes more quickly than it arrives, and I am always trying to figure out where the time went.  I am trying my best not to blink, but the season still seems to be passing as quickly as it does every year.  Thankfully, I have been able to take advantage of the weather, and have tried to photograph some of summer’s visual treats, as seen in this accompanying image.

Summer “Popsicle”

–Ken

P.S.  This post was drafted in early June, and has been patiently waiting for me to select some accompanying image for posting.  I guess another summer came and went, and it looks like I did not blink!