End of Summer

August is upon us with the chatter of the cicadas and the smell of freshly mown hay along the country roads . It is supposed to be the dog days of summer, but the weather is variable from cool to hot. No consistent pattern of hot sweaty unbearable nights that make the days long and miserable. Local county fairs are benefitting from the milder weather but the tomato crop is not. To ripen properly, tomatoes need some hot August nights. I miss the sweetness of a just picked tomato.
We did not have a garden for the second year but did plant 6 tomatoes, 5 peppers, and 2 cucumbers behind the garage. The cukes are the long burpless variety recommended by my cousin Willa, and as of today, I have picked 15. Well worth the money and time. I used several to make cucumber salad with onions and mayo/vinegar dressing. Yum
This summer has busy for us. We took our first family vacation in the Smoky Mountains. The cabin we rented had plenty of room for 5 kids to run and scream as well as privacy for each family. We were still speaking to each other at the end of the week so I think it was a success. Great to have my quiet early morning broken by "I'm hungry grandma" from soft little voices. Meanwhile, my daughters and sons in law slept on in comfort.
In July, we went to Eastern Kentucky for several days for the annual Callie and Maudie Howard Reunion. This was our 14th year of gathering to honor my maternal grandparents. I am gradually transitioning the arrangement duties to other cousins because I experience too much fatigue to take care of everything myself.  One goal I was able to accomplish was the compilation of the photo book of all their descendants. It took me 4 years of begging, borrowing and stealing photos to reach completion. I wish my grandmother was here to see it. As we gather each summer, I think of how proud she would be to see the growth and successes of her family. She came from such humble stock and lived an often hard life but that never stopped her can do attitude. Or made her waver in her faith in our God.
When we make the reunion trip, we always try to visit the family cemetery at the Head of the Licking River and to stop at the old homeplace to visit our family friend and distant relative, Hazel. The graveyard is high on a steep pine covered hillside on Howard's Fork. The sun shines warmly on the  stones thru the tall forest there. Soft music is provided by the shallow trickling river. What I remember from my youth as a raging river is now barely able to wash the stones left from other times. But that does encourage my wading enough to just wet my hot feet.