Bittersweet

Now we’re in the bittersweet late heart of summer, late July and the end of the swim season, crape myrtle in full bloom, deep blue skies and sudden biblical thunderstorms, baseball on the radio and the Olympics on TV. We are days away from August, month of vacations and languorous weekends of reading and swimming and hanging around. The busy weekends and hustle of June and July, months of daily swim practices and twice-weekly meets and weddings and graduations and Father’s Day and 4th of July give way to a slower pace and shorter to-do lists and a little bit of time to breathe, and it’s lovely except that it’s also the beginning of the end. School starts at the end of August. The long days will get the tiniest bit shorter, barely noticeable until about the third week of August when we’ll suddenly realize that it’s getting dark and it’s only 8:15. The back-to-school displays in stores will expand and grow more insistent, demanding that we consult our school’s list of required items and stock up on notebooks and pens and folders right now. Baseball and the Olympics will give way to pre-season football. A few mornings here and there will be cool and misty and almost autumnal. 

*****

It's been a nice summer but COVID is back and it’s threatening to ruin everything again. I can't get away from news about the dreaded Delta variant. "Wear your mask," my old lady told me today, when I called to get her grocery list. "Even though you're vaccinated. The CDC isn't telling us the whole truth." So the COVID conspiracy theories are back, too. Awesome. 

My brother has a health issue that I hope won't turn out to be serious, but it's worrying. Even the Olympics are a little disappointing. Silver for Katie Ledecky in the 400 (and a 5th place finish in the 200) and no Simone in the team gymnastics final.*  I suppose we could just watch kids fall off their skateboards in the concrete skate park. And people are putting their masks back on. It's voluntary now but not for long, I'm afraid. 

*****

Yesterday, I backed out of my driveway and the crape myrtle, heavy with blooms, scraped the hood of my car and left some flowers behind. A tree could not be in fuller bloom than that crape myrtle, I tell you what. It's like a sign that my brother will be OK. And if we have to wear the masks again, then we'll wear the masks again. There are worse things. And Katie Ledecky won gold after all, in the 1500. She’s still unbeatable in that race. 

*NO, I am not disappointed in Simone Biles--I am disappointed for my own sake, because I won’t get to watch her compete again. She did exactly the right thing. Anyone who has suffered sexual assault understands the aftereffects of unprocessed trauma, and I’m glad she’s finally going to take care of herself. And anyone who hasn’t should sit this conversation out. Especially weak, small, cowardly right wing men spewing their stupid hot takes on the Twitter.