“Summer ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the stooks rise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! what lovely behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?”
~ Gerard Manley Hopkins, from “Hurrahing in Harvest”
Good things in August:
Fat rolls of hay in the fields
Jared coming home from his shift at the hospital
Spending a few hours over lunch with my friend, Hannah, whose friendship is well-worth the roadtrip
Meeting Jared’s parents for breakfast at the Village Inn, then visiting MeMe at the nursing home for her birthday
The man with a mustache who came and played ragtime piano for the residents
Steaks & homemade fries
An evening paddleboarding Lake Fort Smith, quiet and cupped in the surrounding Boston Mountains
A long, winding drive home at golden hour
Tidying the house, ironing dress clothes, & practicing Sunday music by the open window
Jared preaching his first wedding sermon
Sunday afternoon at the waterpark with a lazy river, and grabbing hot dogs for dinner by the pool
Finding a big bouquet at the front door
Red sun rising
Theology conversations over breakfast
Janaya sending a package of snacks to my door
Potluck night & good conversations
Morning Bible time on the back porch
A walk and long conversation with Mom
Cleaning out the bee room for honey harvest, emptying cluttered corners, & taking a load to resale
Garden-grown potato fries
Evening pickleball and distant thunder; clouds that filled up the whole sky
Watching an old Audrey Hepburn movie
Making two crockpots of soup for company and the conference, cleaning the kitchen, & cutting fresh, white zinnias for the tables
Iced coffee with goat’s milk
Waiting for the cool of the day to go play disc golf; a lovely sunset high on the berm over the lake
Hearing everyone sing from behind the piano
Sunday lunch, coffee, and games all afternoon with friends
Running a morning mile together
The last few garden peppers and tomatoes
Chopping & grilling skillet scramble with garden potatoes & peppers
Watching our biblical counseling lectures in the evenings
Cutting fresh flowers for the guest room, washing sheets, and getting ready for my family to come in town
Listening in on choir practice
Everyone staying late on a Wednesday to help install the new AC unit
Phone calls with Dad on preparations for the church conference, printing things in the church office, & setting up the book table
Making a big pot of enchiladas for mine and Jared’s families; playing Taboo & trivia around the table
Church conference day—getting up early to make tomato soup, practicing music, greeting so many brothers and sisters from ours and fellow churches, worshiping with my family, hearing the saints sing with all their might, rich preaching from God’s Word, and a feast of soups, salads, and sandwiches put on by our faithful church ladies
Enough leftovers for a Sunday potluck
Picking up raw milk for the week
Joining Bonnie & Faith at the nursing home to do crafts with the residents; meeting Clara, Wanda, Paula, & Debbie, and everyone singing along to karaoke
Leaving cards under Emily’s office door
Pictures from the nieces and nephews’ first day of school
Azure pick-up day and Harold helping me load my heavy bags of oats & rice; running into our neighbor, Paul, again
Smell of breakfast sausage cooking
Registration week for the Young Writer’s Workshop, which is always busy & full
Homemaking Matters by Marci Ferrell, which has been a refreshing read
Homemade gyros
Golden, evening rain shower
A Saturday morning hike around Lake Alma, followed by lunch & strawberry lemonade
Sharing communion as a church & the lyrics to At Calvary
Afternoon service at the nursing home and how our church group fills up the whole foyer
Rolling out dough for whole wheat pizzas & reading over the stove while the sausage cooked
Catching up over a long lunch with Susie
Cutting honeycomb and firing up the extractor for a little honey harvest this year
An August morning in the kitchen, making muffins and mopping the floors
Opening the screens to welcome a bit of rain, and the scent of moist earth after such a long drought
Reading on the porch together till dusk
bethanyjlincks.com 