Thoughts

I’m not keen on heat and humidity but hot summer days can be good.  To sit by the pool and watch grandchildren jump and splash in the water, my head covered with a big straw hat, a cool drink in hand and I know all is right with the world.

It is hard to beat a beautiful, warm Indian summer day. The leaves on the trees are shades of bright orange, red and yellow, the sky is blue, the clouds are puffy and the wind gentle.  The day is perfect.

Winter days, especially in Chicago, can be brutal.  The days are dark and short, the snow blows with a blinding force, temperatures plummet to subzero readings, and the wind can freeze your lungs.  But it is also a time when neighbors help neighbors dig out after a twelve inch snowfall, shovel one another’s sidewalks, help push cars out of drifts, build snowmen and smile as the children make snow angles up and down the block.

Spring is a time when the winter gloom has receded with the snow and my fall-planted tulips are beginning to peek out from the barren patch of dirt in front of my house.   But I think my absolute favorite days are those in the month of May when the bridal wreath bushes running the length of our backyard are bent over with the weight of thousands of delicate tiny white flowers and the yard is fragrant with their heavenly aroma.