The End of Summer

Swann Family News (swannfamilynews.blogspot.com)
The End of Summer
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Number 552

It’s been a while since I wrote last so I thought it was time to send out an update, though there’s not much to report. We are approaching the end of the first grading period at school and it’s been fairly routine around the house since school got under way. Actually, we all seem to revolve around the house in our own circles. The boys and I go to school early and get home after cross country training. They’ve also been picking pumpkins for Steve on the weekends. In the evenings they have homework and I have lessons that I should be planning. Vicki goes to work and does her thing in the evenings as well. And we don’t see much of Jenna because she is away at college.

Speaking of cross country, we’ve watched as the boys have run better and better over the season. I was with the boys at a meet on Tuesday where Nate beat his personal record by a minute and thirty-five seconds! That boy has no more baby fat now (his doctor was a bit concerned about his drop in weight until we told him how much Nate is running now).

We were at another meet in Nashville weekend before last and decided to make a family day out of it. Jenna met us at the used book store and then we went out to the Korea House restaurant for lunch. This meant that the boys had to bring a change of clothes and change in the van. While this was happening underwear was mentioned and Ben began explaining to us that their running shorts have built-in underwear (like swimming trunks). This made Vicki ask, “Nate, you don’t have your bare butt on my van seat back there do you?”

There was a long pause. Then with a smile in his voice he replied, “Not any more!”

We had thought that fall came early this year but were sadly mistaken. It got cool after the storm that was Harvey blew through. We even turned on the heat for a few nights. Then a couple of weeks ago things started to warm up and get humid again. The days have felt like July and August. At least the nights have been a bit cooler. The worst part is that the rains from Harvey and Irma hatched all the mosquitoes and we’ve hardly been able to step out in the yard without being eaten alive. It has begun to cool off again. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the hot weather for a while.

This swing from cool to hot weather did a number on me and Vicki. I came down with a cold or sinus infection early last week, but got over it quickly. Vicki got sick after that, and she took longer to shake it and feel human again. We’re all back to good health now.

You know, I began writing about our family 14 years ago last month. A lot has changed as our kids have grown. As I indicated above, Jenna is away at school. The boys are beginning to step out into their own lives as well. It is as it should be. While we interact every day there are fewer anecdotal stories or cute things said than there used to be. Empty nesting is still several years away, but we see it clearly on the horizon now.

My ramblings may be less frequent and less interesting than they used to be, but that’s okay. I am glad the boys have this time right now. With Nate not yet driving they get to spend a lot of time together which offers Nate more social opportunities than he might otherwise have. They have a lot going on that brings them together. We just wonder how the intermediate step will play out when Ben is away at college. You see, both boys enjoy their upstairs bedroom, but both of them like to have the other up there. Used to be that Ben would call for Nate to come upstairs where he was ready to retire for the evening. Now it goes both ways. The other night Ben was downstairs studying and we heard Nate ask him when he was going to go through a major adjustment. Nate is going to be one lonely boy here at home in a couple of years.

Joe