The Bitter, the Sweet, and Everything in Between

Woke up to a fog-shrouded 35 degree morning. I’ll walk later. Right now I need more tea.

As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby, life has picked up again in the fall as it’s turned crisp. After this past summer, I welcome it. It’s good to walk and not feel like I’ve been swimming through the heavy air.

Some of the summer was pleasant. With two dear friends I attended the Andy Warhol exhibit at College of DuPage. Not only did we get to see his portrait of Marilyn Monroe and the Campbell’s soup cans, but his advertisements and illustrations for magazines. And we learned of the man behind the soup cans. He enjoyed working with children and had 27 cats named Sam. Oh, you didn’t know that either? Now you do.

Some of it was quite unpleasant. We had repeated storms that brought hail and high winds. They damaged the one of the area towers; specifically the one that sends us our 5G internet signals. Net service became so erratic and choppy that it was downright unusable some days. Luckily, it was fixed in the last few days.

The other unpleasantry: having to add air quality index (AQI) to our weather vocabulary. When was it..June? I think…well, any way, one night I’d gone to bed with the windows open to enjoy the cool night air and the winks of starlight peeking between the curtains. When I woke up the next morning, the parts of my face impacted by last year’s cellulitis felt as if they were on fire. I looked out the window to see an orange hell scape. The AQI that day was over 300 due to the wild fires in northern Canada.

Anything over 100 triggered itching and burning on the still sensitive parts of my face, and heat did me no favors, either. I had to stay inside in the company of my air purifier and rotating ice packs for comfort.

Needless to say, Ren Faire was a wash again. Between my problems with weather impacting my face and my current food restrictions and the doubling of ticket prices and parking with no new acts, we decided that it wasn’t a good year for it. We’re looking at smaller and early or late season Faires for next year, such as Janesville or Michigan.

So with a sigh, we let go of the summer. Fall started out in a seemingly benevolent way, and then the call came last week that was expected but not then and not wanted.

Sister’s husband, whom I’ve referred to as BIL, made his passage last week. He’d spent the summer running in and out of the hospital with atrial fibrillation problems. He’d had a good weekend, a little tired. And then on Monday he crossed over as he was getting ready to have breakfast.

Sister honored his wishes with a natural burial and no service or visitation, but the celebration of life will be this spring or next fall. I’ll pay her a visit after she gets her feet back on the ground.

So we go on.

This last weekend there was a solar eclipse that’s supposedly portends the arrival of better times. After a year of health challenges and losing too many good people and dogs, I hope to hell it does.