Moving ON

Well, Karen and I moved from WBL to Frederic, Wisconsin. Seems like lots has changed besides the place we lived for over 40 years. Karen retired, downsized our home, and threw or gave away about 1/2 of what we had collected these 40 years. Had to figure out where to put things in a house that is much smaller than we had. What else to throw, my computer crashed, hard drive burnt and power supply failed. Went from Cable 25 mps to DSL 10 mps and am still finding sites where my old email address is wrong. Somehow in getting my computer up again, I lost all of my old addresses on Outlook. I hope I will be able to reconnect with many of you.

Also, I have not had time to do a blog since the move. Well, I am getting back to having things put together. So today, I have the following blog for you.

“Summertime, when the living is easy.” This line from the musical “Porgy and Bess” by G. Gershwin seems to resonate in my mind when the warm breezes start blowing the cold weather away in Minnesota. We all love summer. For many of us, it is a time of vacations and connotations of freedom from school and work. However, why does the song say the living is easy? I think it is because summer seems to bring that association to mind despite the fact that it is not now nor probably ever was easy. Nevertheless, we think of the lushness of fresh fruit, vegetables, the farmers market and long days and nights. It does not matter that we may work all summer, the dream is still there of “easy living.”

As we get older, most of us will think back to our childhoods with fond summer memories of doing nothing but kicking rocks, jumping rope, fishing, swimming off of the old bridge, camping with our friends or weekends at the cabin with our family. Perhaps these are more traditional Minnesota memories but no doubt you will have your own memories associated with summer time. All over the world, people are in vacation mode during the summertime. Perhaps you will spend your summer traveling to exotic destinations or simply taking a short trip to visit relatives. Summer brings a longing for what we want life to have in store for us as we age. Summer is a time of psychological retirement years before any of us will ever retire.

What are your best summer memories? What did you once do each summer that is now simply a memory? What summer traditions do you still celebrate? What do you hope your future summers will have in store for you?