The "vulgar month"

Roger and Georgia

Roger looks happy being underfoot in the kitchen again. He spent a couple days at the veterinary school clinic at WSU in Pullman.  There was good news/bad news. Roger's home vet couldn't find a underlying cause for his gagging cough. Neither could the experts at the college.  But he had some tests and treatments done, and Amanda said he is doing pretty well now.  He is the dearest fellow and only 8 years old. Hopefully he will be with us for a long time to come. 

So, more record high temperatures for today and Friday. Can you believe it is almost September? Back to school for Nova next week. September can be a warm and pleasant month, but this is probably the last hurrah for summer heat. Over the weekend, the weather pattern shifts to morning clouds, cool ocean breezes and maybe even some showers.  I can't remember the last time we had real rain.  Everything is dried out.

I always dread the upcoming dark and wet winter, but the September season shift is one of the nicest times of year in the Northwest. We didn't take a vacation this summer, but have a driving trip to California planned in a couple of weeks. It's been two long years since we visited our favorite spots in the Napa Valley. As usual, we're staying several nights in the hot springs town of Calistoga.  Keep the mud bath hot for me!

I'm also planning a trip in late September to visit dad in Las Vegas. After a such a hard, sad year for our family, there are suddenly some nice things to look forward to again.

When you’re young you prefer the vulgar months, the fullness of the seasons. As you grow older you learn to like the in-between times, the months that can’t make up their minds. Perhaps it’s a way of admitting that things can’t ever bear the same certainty again.

Julian Barnes
"Flaubert's Parrot"