Steve Miller is Right

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future

-Steve Miller, "Fly Like an Eagle

Yeah, Steve seems to have it right when it comes to summer. We are moving right along. We do not have school aged kids anymore - haven't for some time - but I still cringe when I see the "Back to school" sale ads start up. And started, they have, to put it in Yodaspeak. Can the halloween candy be far away?

Relay for Life 2010

We have breezed through a Fourth of July full of activities, an evening of Relay for Life (as depicted in the out-of-focus picture way up top there), got to a square dance club picnic, and this past weekend we had 11 people and three dogs under roof, having a great old time celebrating some birthdays, including daughter Emily's. Our son William made her a personalized "cornhole" set that she believes may vie for the "best birthday present EVER." He did somehow capture the essence of Lilly, the puggle, in an uncanny fashion. Sometimes home-made is the best.

The Artist and his work

And just to keep us busy (and really, disgustingly sweaty, given the temperatures lately), Linda and I power washed, primed, and painted with the good glossy stuff, then installed on the existing posts, a set of cut-to-specs, pre-owned wooden railings for the deck. As of tonight, I pronounce the deck "substantially completed", as the contractors say. Some would no doubt declare it's about time we got around to doing SOMETHING about that deck.

Substantially Completed

Well, there's more to come as this summer barrels along. A trip back east, a week of dog-sitting the grand-dogs, possibly a play tomorrow night (a free offering of "Our Town" in Oberlin), visitors from Omaha, free tickets to the Toledo Zoo, and so on.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I also hope we all canfind the time and place to take up our Pastor's challenge from last Sunday, if you wish, to slow down a bit, pause, and see if you can sight God and His work out there amid the bustle and madness. I plan to do that in a moment, out in a chair on the deck, dog at my side, cool glass of water in my hand, just listening to the crickets and locusts and watching the moon make its way up there behind the neighbor's pines.