Labor Day

It was very satisfying to see many people -- walkers, bikers, joggers -- out on the bike path early this morning. Labor Day should give you that: a morning to recoup, reflect, rejuvenate your soul, all in a natural setting, so that you can come that much closer to a feeling of peace and serenity. Ready to hop back on the treadmill tomorrow!

Ed and I were out there, early bikers that we've become, because it's so damn hot later in the day. And so I wake up, feed the animals...

(the last lilies)

... and then call out to Ed, who would probably enjoy a few more minutes, make that a few more hours of sleep, but still, he shouts back "I'm coming" and we are off.

Nothing about the ride is unusual, except that we add a tiny snippet to our regular old loop, making it a 55 minute ride. (Just enough to make at least one of my watch rings happy!)

But despite its predictability, it's a heavenly ride. Fields of goldenrod, fields of Sandhills... Heavenly.

(I suppose not so heavenly was the sudden pinch I felt near my breast going uphill on the rural road. While pedaling, I reached inside my shirt and pulled out a yellow jacket. Dumb bug: paid with his life for his miscalculation!)

And we detour to Lake Waubesa, just to appreciate that small body of water, even if it suffers in the way that all our nearby lakes are suffering from too much muck in it right now (and all summer long).

Breakfast is timed to be more like brunch, but on the porch and beautiful in its simplicity and calm.

Two things of note from this afternoon: I bought a ticket to a museum for an exposition in October. One that I know I will love, if only the crowds wont push me out to the sidelines. Secondly, I read the article in the NYTimes about Elaine LaLanne. It brought back memories (both for Ed and for me) of our youth, when, back in the 1960s, we'd channel surf and stumble inadvertently on Jack LaLanne's program promoting fitness and a bunch of other health-related habits that were rather novel for that decade. (Jack was her husband.) I include the article for you here if you, like me, have too few older people who serve as good role models for where you may want to see yourself in the last decades of your life. People who have had great sorrow, but managed nonetheless to live with cheer and purpose. People who view senior years as not something straight out of a horror show, but just one more stage in life that offers interesting possibilities for a life well lived. People who you admire for their acknowledgement that some problems are very real, but so many, way too many, are there because you've let them fester and grip your soul. People who don't give up on joy. It's a very paltry set. I know nothing about Elaine except for what I read in this short piece, but I have to say, her clichéd sayings and aphorisms brought a smile to my face. I like them! Maybe you will too.

In the evening, the young family is here for Sunday dinner. I know, I know, it's not Sunday! But, we are celebrating Labor Day together and it feels so good to see their smiling faces here at the farmhouse once again.

And now it's time to face the new academic year. Kids, may it be a splendid one for you!

With love...