Slllloooowwww Down

Now with my main commitments at the kids school complete and summer quickly approaching I started to relax some this week.  But it didn't slow me down, just make me less frantic.  Why is that?  Why do we fill every moment with things that need to be done.  Is it just me?   Or is it more a broader societal culture?  I see everyone doing it!  Even when relaxing, there seems to be a goal, a necessary accomplishment so that the time was productive. 

This week has been a roller coaster.  What better time to gain perspective and really make choices about this 'race' we're in. My grandpa, who turned ninety at the end of last month, has had 3 heart catheterizations in the last 2 days.  Though we knew a pacemaker was a necessity for him, the things that unfolded prior to were a surprise.  One is never prepared for that news to come.  I am amazed at how fluid a situation can be. Where you can go from worry, to relief, to further worry about what the doctor's report is, to near devastation, to elation, to worry, and then finally to relief once again.  This all being said, I live 2000 miles away and am furiously communicating via email, text and telephone.  You know those calls?  The ones where you're not sure what you're going to hear the next time you answer.  I so commend my Dad and Uncles who were there riding the roller coaster in person.  And to my brother, one of the three Bill's, who called me to give me the news when it was at it's worst, asked my opinion, and even though we talk very infrequently, we were one in communicating and bouncing thoughts around.  For that moment of closeness, I am truly thankful.

Once through the end of the week, being at the top of the ride, we hit an unexpected nosedive, when we got a call that informed us that there is a major plumbing leak at the old house.  ***Disclaimer, I've said this year I wouldn't mention that place much, and I haven't.  We now have a tenant and are 10 days in to breathing a sigh of relief***  The leak will involve tearing walls out to find out where what they think is the main stack is leaking.  So now, since this happened on a Friday before a holiday weekend, we're all stuck.  Waiting for insurance to call back, the contractor to get authorization to take a look, and feeling horribly that this family of five can now only use one of the two full baths through this weekend.

So now in light of how life can speed up and get so crazy in a moment, a lesson you think I would have figured out by now!  It's time to slow down,  why not?  Life ends up speeding up on it's own anyway, why go unnecessarily fast at the in between times?  Enjoy every moment we have with those we love, count blessings, and learn not to worry about what you cannot control.  What better time of year to do this, than now?

Savor the long, warm summer days,

listening to the trees rustle in the soft breezes,

watching the clothes on the line flutter,

swinging on the porch,

listening to the screams of happy children fast at play,

cut wild flowers,

walk in the garden,

and slllooowww down!

Happy Summer!