Time is fleeting ...

Summer, which took so long to finally arrive, suddenly seems like it is zipping by. Just like sand sifting through your toes at the beach, or funneling through an hourglass, it seems that after Independence Day has passed, the realization that we are slowly creeping toward Fall and Winter is evident. Ever so subtly, the sun is rising later and going to bed earlier. I’ve already heard mention of back-to-school sales! I don’t know why we keep plowing through our life at such a hectic pace, but I really don’t like it. Unfortunately, our brief respite of cooler weather has passed, leaving heat and humidity in its wake, so surely the steamy temps will slow our pace a little.

Today was Friday the 13th? Did you bravely venture out? Did you ensure you packed a rabbit’s foot or a good luck token, just in case some evil crossed your path? Today was the second and last Friday the 13th for this year, the first having fallen on April 13th. A little trivia for you: today’s Friday the 13th fell exactly 13 weeks after April 13th.

Speaking of the number 13, it was one month ago today, the 13th of June, when I saw the large snapping turtle digging a hole to lay her eggs at Council Point Park. I’ve researched when the baby turtles would emerge, and it will be 80-90 days from June 13th (September 1st – September 11th). Each time I walk at the Park, I always glance over at that spot of dirt in the grass which covers those incubating turtle eggs. Mama snapping turtle did a good job camouflaging that hole. She smoothed it over before she walked away, her job done. If I hadn’t watched her with fellow Park walkers that morning, I wouldn’t be any the wiser that all those turtle eggs are underground.

We’ve had so many extremely hot days since those turtle eggs were laid, and, each time I walk by, I think of still another miracle of nature, the hot sun baking the earth, all the while incubating those embryos until the day the “big hatch” happens. I sure hope I’m on the perimeter path to witness those hatchlings emerging from their underground nursery, then making an uncharacteristic dash to the Ecorse Creek, approximately 20 feet away.

It seems like I’m always hurrying and scurrying around, and seldom indulging in the leisurely pace of a turtle. I know that description fits me many days, especially if I have indulged in too much “me time” on weekends, then I’ll pay the price by scrambling around to get things done during the workweek. There never seems to be enough time to just breathe. But the weekend is upon us and Friday the 13th is almost over ... the next one is September 2019!

Even the youngsters have way too much going on in their lives. When I saw this artwork on a driveway enroute to the Park, I decided I must take some photos. The chalk art drawings have been scarce this Summer; usually I’ve featured many chalk artists by mid-July.

For this pastel sidewalk art, I pondered on how to get the best angle to include all the drawings – it wasn’t easy! This chalk artist really went to town! The driveway was covered with drawings. But, it was not until I got home and studied one of the cement driveway segments, that I noticed the words “Love You Little Sissy” and the piece of worn-down blue chalk near the flower outline.

Artwork frozen in time ... so, what happened to the artist? Did this little nipper run into the house for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ... or a nap, and just abandon the project? Was he or she writing a tender note to a younger sister? You’ll have to fill in the blanks because no family members were outside to ask.

So, ... back to the topic of numbers. I finally passed the 500-mile mark today. I’ve trekked 503 miles so far this year, but I was two weeks late in achieving mileage over 500. I had strived to reach 525 miles, or at least half of my ultimate goal, by June 30th but fell short of reaching those miles due to the endless rainy days, mostly weekends, we had in the Spring. It is always my goal to have walked at least half of my final goal miles when the year is half over.

I had better get cracking!

For the time being, I am buoyed by my local meteorologist’s news. He advised that the Climate Prediction Center says we’re in for a milder and drier Winter this year in the Great Lakes thanks to the prediction of an El Nino Winter. You’ll get no complaints from me after hearing that news.

Onward and upward!

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/