Last Days of Summer

 

I sit in the back porch or "conservatory" as the British call it, and watch the sun getting lower in the sky, earlier in the evening. Tomorrow is September 1st and in three weeks the Autumnal Equinox arrives, heralding the beginning of my favourite time of year. 

That doesn't mean I'm not a bit sad to see Summer fading. The last three months seem to have gone by quicker than usual. After a four year absence, the last two thanks to COVID, I flew home to New Brunswick and have spent most of August there. The grandkids have grown far too fast in my absence. They are smart, funny, irritating and engaging all at the same time. The youngest is in grade school, the middle grand is in middle school and the oldest starts high school this year. They will all be graduated and gone before you know it! 

L-R: Zoe, Ben & Amelia

son David & daughter Pauline

Back to work this week, leaping into the new practice software and with a renewed sense of needing to make the most of my days. I am rejecting the noise and chaos of the outside world, or at least as it is constantly thrown at you here in England. Something really struck me while I was away and that was the mostly positive outlook on Life people had where I am from. They are not ignoring what is going on in the World or less vulnerable to it than others. They simply choose to live in the present and find enjoyment and contentment in their days. I'd forgotten that after nearly two decades in a country populated by "whinging Poms", as the Australians call the British. Forever glass is half full attitude. I have allowed it to rub off on me and as a consequence, I was no longer my true self. When I came back on the weekend my husband remarked that I looked good. My eyes were no longer glassy with fatigue and irritation. That's one of the nicest things anyone has said to me in a while. 

I plan on holding onto that. I guess you could say I rediscovered my old attitude and I plan on keeping it front and centre!