Let’s start with the last thing. One of the reasons why I look forward to fall is the approach of 70-degree days. Actually, anywhere from 65-75 degrees makes me happy. At 65 degrees, I’m likely in jeans and at 75 degrees, I’m likely in shorts. But either way, it’s a one-layer outfit and I’m probably not going to sweat through it. That just makes me happy.
Lately, however, it’s been in the mid-80s with high humidity. Now, “high humidity” in WNY is nothing like my in-laws’ “high humidity” in New Orleans. Up here, we’re talking 60%; down there, they’re talking 90%. But, even mid-80s and 60% humidity is too hot for me and my little kitty. I largely stay inside in the air conditioning and she sleeps under the deck in the shade.
So today, I did my typical mid-August activity: I looked at the long-range forecast. Truth be told, this is probably an “any season” activity for me. Like my mom, I seem to be becoming obsessed with the weather. But in mid-August, the reason I look is to see if we’re going to get any relief from the heat. Candidly, I didn’t have great expectations. We’ve had a hot, dry summer, which has been fabulous in all sorts of ways but has been just a little too hot for me lately. And come about January 3rd, I’ll be wholeheartedly regretting any wish I ever had for cooler weather. But, I looked anyway and was pleasantly surprised! Starting Sunday, we head into the mid-70s for the next 10 days. While we creep up to the high-70s for a few days at the end, the news was relief to my menopausal mind that just couldn’t take one more hot flash brought on by high heat.
With that, my day brightened and my perspective shifted. It’s mid-August. In and of itself, that’s a pretty good time to be here. Not only is the vegetable garden producing like crazy (remember my pumpkin!), but the peaches are nearly ripe on my peach tree and the green apples are getting just a hint of red on the skin. The days are still long but the nights are getting a wee bit cooler, which helps to make sleeping more bearable. But the biggest benefit? Everybody’s on vacation.
Now, there’s two reasons why I love vacation season. One is obvious: we go away. The other is not-so-obvious: others go away. I like it when others go away. Life slows down then. Deadlines get pushed out, time frees up and everyone is generally in a much better mood because they’re either going away or just coming back. Plus, folks just get in the mindset that fall is coming, school is going back in session and that work is going to get busy/serious starting in September. So suddenly, there is a real need to just kick back and enjoy mid-August.
So, that’s where the Mayeaux’s are. We are, of course, still renovating. My husband is building his business and I’m about to come into my busy (but favorite) season of the year. It’s time for a weekend away. This year, the thought of a vacation kind of got scrapped around early April when we realized that COVID wasn’t going away. It got put back on in May but got taken off when Ironman Lake Placid got cancelled. And in July, it just didn’t seem necessary or possible. I mean, where were we going to go where we wouldn’t have to self-quarantine for two weeks when we got back?
Yet, somehow we got back to the idea of a quick getaway. I was actually a little hesitant to bring it up to my husband. I thought he would rightly point out that there’s too much to do around here, particularly during harvest season. Instead, he immediately joined in that he had been thinking the same thing. Just a long weekend, we decided, but enough to make it feel like we really got away. When he immediately asked about our VRBO account, I knew he was serious.
That takes me full circle to this post. It’s amazing how mid-August, 70-degree days and a weekend away come together. We’re planning on going north to Lake Placid, where we’ll be much more likely to get some spectacular views of the leaves and those 70-degree days I love and we’re anxious to take advantage of the lazy, hazy last days of August when the whole world slows down. More importantly, it’s time for us to slow down. The past few months of angst and worry coupled with busy professional lives, starting a blog, renovations and large gardens have left us little time to unwind. A weekend in the mountains is just about the perfect place to make that happen, particularly when my cell phone rarely works up there.
So, as I push through a major project today, I’m also mentally making a packing list when I need a brain break. We’re planning on doing some hiking, so I need to decide between hiking boots and trail shoes. I likely need a mix of jeans and shorts. We’ll have to line up a kitty sitter and get the kitty cam out for Meadow. And I’ll need to unpack of all my stress and anxiety if I’m going to fit that extra sweater and tank top into my suitcase.
Ahhhh, end of summer. It’s a time and place which is met with a little bit of sadness that summer is coming to a close and a little bit of relief that life is about to return to routine and predictability. And finally, there is the little bit of excitement at that last grab at a few precious summer days to call them uniquely yours.
Here’s to weekend getaways, the mountains, beautiful weather and those glorious words, “no service” which appear on one’s cell phone.
The Yuppie Homesteader 