Farewell to Summer

Alivia and her cousins Kinley and Korbin spent a little time painting bird houses on Sunday afternoon.

By Allan Olson

If I were a lyricist, I would perhaps write an ode to summer. Since I’m not, my usual ramblings will have to suffice.

Labor Day weekend was busy (as are most), but added to the fact is what we do to make it busier. A few weeks ago my wife said that we would be having three more kids at our house for the weekend, as she wanted her niece and nephews to come visit, and she had called their mom to make the arrangements.

I was perhaps a little annoyed thinking that maybe I would geocache all weekend and that would put a kibosh on my plans, but the closer it got, the less interested I was in geocaching. Now don’t mistake that for a lack of interest, but rather a waning desire to go anywhere after looking at my September calendar and realizing that at least half of those weekends are already booked.

About a week ago, a friend of mine suggested that I join him at an auction on Friday, but advised me to drive separate because he planned to be there all day. I didn’t know that I could commit to the all day or even the auction, but after I looked at the sale bill and discussed it at home, I decided to make it work.

Eventually I made it to the auction, with Abigail in tow. She insisted on going, even though I told her it could be long and boring. I also knew that if took anyone, she was the one least likely to complain about wanting to go home. As for the long and boring part – I haven’t been to too many auctions in recent years, but this one – wow, it certainly fit that description. We bid on some items that we wanted and thankfully, the things we wanted nobody else really did, and the cost was pretty low. If it had gone the other way, I didn’t want them that bad. There were a few other things we wanted as well, but our time commitment had us leaving at 4:30 p.m. in order to be at the pick-up/drop off point for our weekend company, so I completed my check-out process and hit the road. 

It was fun to go to an auction again, but it sure could have got expensive in a hurry if I wasn’t careful. I would have loved to have come home with an ATV or a camper, but the camper was not what I was looking for, and the ATVs went for more than I wanted to pay, so it all worked out fine for me.

Friday night was pretty laid back; after the auction I took a nap and then my wife and I went to town to stock up on groceries and school supplies, and spent a considerable sum more than I did at the auction. My friend called me and said he had my sale items and was dropping them off on his way home. I told Nikolai and Abigail to help him when he arrived, and we got home just as he was getting ready to leave.

On Saturday, I read for a few hours in the morning and finished my book. Then I told all seven kids to get their swimming stuff on and we headed to the beach. My wife used that time for a nap, so it was just me, seven kids and a puppy playing at the beach for two hours. It went pretty well – the kids had fun, and I even got in and joined them. They splashed me, and I threw them around (at their request).

At home again, I made burgers for the group, after which Abigail and I headed to town. We went to the pow-wow for some photos, and then got supplies for s’mores for the evening fire. Nik is usually the fire master, but he didn’t have his magic touch this time, so I got things blazing once I got home. We all enjoyed s’mores and the fire for maybe an hour, and then everyone abandoned me. I sat by the fire enjoying the warm flames and the cool night air while watching a show on my phone until it went dead. Then I went to bed.

Sunday morning, I helped with the scone buffet for breakfast, watched some more tube and basically did a whole lot of nothing; it was very unusual, but it felt good. Most of the day was spent that way, although I did participate in a basketball game with a couple kids. That, combined with the laying around, is probably why my back hurt me the rest of the day. That evening, we took our visitors back to the drop-off point, and then returned home for what was left of the evening.

It was a very busy, fun-filled couple days for the kids with their cousins. Now that school is back in session, my days will be busier, too, and with deer season fast approaching, it’s time to get working on some stand repairs. That will surely take care of one September weekend and probably another in October.

I can honestly say that I’m ready for the cool fall air, but not for what is certain to follow.

Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.