It’s Day 8 of summer break and I have completed one FULL week. Mostly it’s been catching up on the tasks that I said I’d do when school ended or working on the things that needed to be done to close out school, like packing my classroom and moving to another classroom, my twelfth classroom in twenty-two years. Moving is incomplete and I’ll finish moving later this week when I return home.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I have spent Days 4 through 7 (and Day 9) at our lake house.
Our daughter is spending the summer by the lake working at a local veterinarian. The lake house is about a two-hour drive to where she attends university at Michigan State. When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but by the time I finished high school I had changed my career path to being an engineer, and a couple of years later I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. It wasn’t until I went back to school in 1997 that I finally realized my middle school career aspiration of working with animals. Yes, there is a joke there, a dad joke, but a joke, nonetheless.
It’s been a dry spring in the Midwest and throughout southern Canada. Dry understates the problem.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
Wildfires have ravaged southern Canada and for the past month the air has been filled with smoke particles. The skies, normally a brilliant sky blue, have been a grayish white with the sun’s rays scattered as they pass through the atmosphere. Last week major league baseball cancelled three games in the northeast due to wildfire smoke in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
Last week Saturday, June 4th a wildfire, sparked by an untended campfire, burned over 2000 acres near our lake house. Our daughter was here, she sent photos of Forest Service fire planes scooping water from the lake’s surface and helicopters filling buckets filled with water to douse the wildfire’s flames.
The firefighters were able to gain control of the fire Sunday with the help of mother nature and the hard work of firefighting crews. I am thankful.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
This past Saturday (Day 5) was warm and still VERY dry. It was my first full day at the lake and like most lake days it was filled with chores. We were able to get the speed boat in, the dock adjusted, and enjoy a delicious dinner of barbecue chicken.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
Sunday (Day 6) arrived with a gentle rain. A welcome gentle rain.
The kind of rain that fills the ground’s pores and trickles deep into the soil quenching Earth’s thirst. It rained all day, and it was glorious.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I spent Sunday doing nothing but thinking and dreaming. It was glorious. The mood spilled over into Monday. It’s late Monday night and I am wrapping up the post I planned to write yesterday, then today, and now, late Monday night blending onto Tuesday morning.
Tuesday (Day 8) is going to be an amazing day. I know it and I can feel it. So, I am going to jump up, jump in, and seize the day (when I wake up). Making the Days Count, one day at a time, and even when it rains and especially when the sun shines.
How is the weather where you live? Are you getting wildfire particles in your air?
Fire and Rain
Just yesterday mornin’, they let me know you were gone.
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you.
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song.
I just can’t remember who to send it to
I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.
But I always thought that I’d see you again.Won’t you look down upon me, Jesus?
You’ve got to help me make a stand.
You’ve just got to see me through another day.
My body’s aching and my time is at hand.
And I won’t make it any other way.
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.
But I always thought that I’d see you again.
Been walking my mind to an easy time.
My back turned towards the sun.
Lord knows, when the cold wind blows
It’ll turn your head around.
Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line.
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground
Oh, I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.
But I always thought that I’d see you, baby.
One more time again, now
Thought I’d see you one more time again.
There are just a few things coming my way this time around, now.
Thought I’d see you, thought I’d see you, fire, and rain, now.
Lyrics by James Taylor
It must have been scary to be so close to the fire.
Yes it was and we were at home when it happened…. our daughter is spending the summer at the lake enjoying lake life and minding the store. I am looking forward to hearing up for the a week over the Fourth of July. Keep exploring and sharing, thank you.
Oh, forest fires – or moorland fires in our case – are such a worry these days. And not likely to stop any time soon. You’ll be especially glad of your lakeside retreat.
Yes, we are. It’s dry here, too. Seems as though all the rain goes somewhere else. History tells me we’ll get ours when it’s time. Thank you for stopping in and stay well. Peace.