There’s something about August that gets me every year.  Every time I swear this August is going to be different.  And then it arrives and takes me by storm.  All the vows, resolutions, promises and goals fall by the wayside.  August just has its own agenda.

Where I’ve Been

I took a trip to California to help with a huge family move.  (I brought my laptop with me, but then the internet didn’t work.)  We packed a multiphase move – one house, two trucks, three households, four destinations.  It was certainly the most complicated move I’ve ever experienced.  Then we organized an estate sale for everything remaining.

Next, we drove the giant moving truck (towing the car) from California to Washington.  Our truck would only do 25mph up hills, no joke.  There are a lot of hills between California and Washington.

These baby mice were living… in the trunk of my car. /sigh

Upon arriving in Washington, we unpacked our truck at the final three destinations and worked on getting my grandparents settled into assisted living here.  It was a good move, but that process has been time-consuming and labor intensive.  And, in spite of the fact I feel like it’s all I’ve been doing, it’s still not quite finished.

Just when things were starting to look almost back to normal, my mom fell and broke her wrist playing roller derby.

Ew… It’s broken.

Totally awesome.  Totally uninsured – oops.  We’ve since been navigating the interesting waters of figuring out how to get expensive orthopedic surgery when you have no insurance.  All the while walking the fine line between pain control and nausea, as well as keeping up the continuous ice pack rotation.

I may have backed over my skate bag with my car. Helmet vs. car?  Yeah, car.

Did I mention August has a mind of its own?

Everything Has a Rhythm

I won’t lie to you.  I’ve really been struggling with this.  I had an agenda for August.  I had CSA updates and meal plans and a whole series on the basics on bulk buying, preserving, affordable sustainable eating, conscious choice time management to write…  I was going to can tomatoes and pick blackberries and blueberries and make salsa and jam and get all the planting done for the fall garden.

I had a PLAN, people.  And it’s so frustrating when real life derails your PLAN.

But I also know that everything has a rhythm and a pattern and a right place and a right time.  And no amount of banging your head against a wall and pushing and arguing with the powers that be will make something come into being when it’s not time.  Clearly, August was a time for other things.

But now as September sweeps in and I can start to feel my head breaking above water, it makes a little more sense.  The tomatoes are late this year.  So are the blackberries and my figs.  It’s supposed to be 90 degrees this weekend, so maybe kayaking on Puget Sound is still in the books this summer.  Maybe there will still be a few days to float the river.

Maybe if I just trust in the process, and hurry a little less, and worry a little less, I will see that life is more about being in the moment than it is about getting where you thought you were going.

And maybe that’s what August is really all about.