June Already?

June already? The magnolia has lost its tentative lacy green, branches already laden with large, waxy leaves and the lawn beneath plush as cat fur.
            Spring went by in a blur of rain and work. Fire trainings, Mother’s Day gifts, prom tuxes and our last high school graduation. All the stuff of life, bundled and tossed at us – sorted out, soaked in, and hurried past.
            Slow down, life!
            May and June are big fire training months. Possibly because we finally feel like moving again, lol! We will come to your house fire in the winter, but, given our preference, we would rather not turn into animated ice cubes while operating the hose lines. This spring, we’ve covered auto extrication and l.p. burns – yours truly got to be nozzle man, raising her blood pressure to an amazing level (I’ve been eating garlic and drinking apple cider vinegar ever since.) Also, we have not one, but two, abandoned houses to use for practice burns. Youngest son has joined the department, and brought buddies with him, so we are thrilled to death.


        Mother’s Day saw me with not only my mother, but all three of my kids, and I am so blessed to realize that this is always the case. Sunshine and lilacs and the slow awareness of utter peace. Mother’s Day, to me, feels like the easy Sundays of my childhood – simple, unfettered happiness.

Above is a picture of all of us together – Rachel is the oldest and a university student, which still sounds so important that I secretly marvel every time I say it, lol. She’ll be home for much of the summer, yay! Philip is the boy in the cap, already brown as can be, although I would swear the sun has hardly been out this summer. He lives just down the road from us, and is currently wearing himself out building pools and attending bonfires. This boy works and plays harder than anyone else I know. 

Johnny is the youngest and the tallest – just graduated high school and tells me that nobody calls him Johnny anymore. He makes movies – you can find him on youtube if you go to Jones Shorts and then Jones Productions, he’s got the pic of the horse - but he doesn’t know what he wants to do with the rest of his life. Lately, it’s become a prevalent question. He’s only eighteen, people!
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I sometimes think of these guys as the rudder, the sails and the anchor in my life ship.

Prom was especially awesome this year because Johnny was king! He insisted on a white tux, and even though dinner was spaghetti, the garment seems to have survived. We had a lot of fun with the crown, and even made Kitty-Boy pose for a picture in it. Lol!

And graduation, whew! Our high school – which we never think of as “ours” since it is not in our town – is especially snobby and stuffy, and insists on silence during the ceremony. Lol! Philip brought an airhorn, and we made a resounding racket as Johnny walked up for his diploma. This is long-standing tradition in my family, but truly, we outdid ourselves. Probably a good thing that this is our last-ever high school graduation.     

Our party was at the fire station, and my daughter, party planner extraordinaire, had it well in hand. She makes cakes! Beautiful, awesome cakes with butter cream frosting as thick as two finger widths – yay! And she decorated – streamers, balloons, photos strung from silver wire and live flowers for centerpieces. The flowers were of a variety I had never seen before, long cones tipped in pink, yellow and orange. So appropriate, they looked like little candles, and if ever there is a time to light a candle for the future, now is it.          
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Today is my first anniversary! I love, love my husband.
            Happy summer, all!