There are few topics more boring to others than one's health, so I will simply report that the bypass surgery was a success and that I am facing a longer period of mending than I would like. Why is patience something that I never quite master?
On to more interesting matters.
For those of us who live on the lake, this is a lovely time of year. The weekenders and vacationers have, for the most part, disappeared. With so many schools systems beginning their year in August, activity on the lake begins slowing down well before the traditional Labor Day season end.
By this time of year, the lake activity is almost nil during the week and limited on weekends. The fact that the water level fell and then came back up contributes to the lack of traffic this autumn. Many people assumed the water was down for the winter and put their boats away.
Even though I am months away from paddling my kayak or maybe even riding in a boat, I find much to appreciate about the lake.
I was up before dawn and sat with my morning coffee watching the hummingbirds defy gravity and physics as they did their best to keep their the feeders for themselves, even though there is enough for everyone.
nbsp; I stepped out onto the front deck for a few moments. The only man-made sounds I could distinguish were low and far away. The sun was catching beginning to light the trees across the slough. Each morning the trees are showing more color.
I don't know how colorful the autumn will be. Very often drought makes for more colorful leaves it seems, and I don't know whether that or the moisture we had toward the end of summer will have a greater influence. In either case, we will appreciate what nature offers us.
Each evening the sun drops over the ridge closer and closer to the Smith Mountain fire tower. We judge the season by the relationship of the sun to the tower, and soon I will be taking sunset photos with the sun silhouetting the tower.
My wife showed me a photo in the home section of one of the newspapers recently. It showed a fairly extensive yard makeover, and I must say it was very attractive.
But in the photo, at the back of the garden, was a fence and beyond that roofs of other houses.
I am content to look from our windows and see the native azaleas and hydrangeas that grow where they want to without much human intervention, and to see beyond them expanses of water.
Especially now.
Bill Brown can be contacted at billatthelake@gmail.com.
