The dog days of summer are upon us. No, let me rephrase
that. The dog days of summer have been with us for a couple of months. This has
been a very hot summer. My husband and I sit out in the afternoon and evenings to enjoy the harbor activity or to enjoy the company of neighbors.
This summer we’ve spent more and more afternoon inside in air conditioning.
Maybe the weather is hotter this year, or maybe we’re just
getting older and the heat affects us more. The second explanation is probably
the correct one. We are getting older and as we go from one year to the next,
it seems the summers are hotter and the days are flying faster than they did in
the years past.
My mom used to say that as we age, the years go faster. I
never paid much attention to that—until now.
We had the privilege of having our five-year-old grandson at
the beginning of the summer. His birthday is the last day of August which makes
all the others in his class older than he is. One day out of the blue he looked
at me with a sad-sack face. “McMama, I’ll never be six.” I started to tell him
he was being silly, but then, I realized that for him time isn’t passing as
fast as it is for me. Getting to be six is the biggest worry his little mind
has right now, and to him, the three months ahead were endless.
Yes, time flies as we get older. We clutter our minds with
family matters, financial worries, career problems and on and on and on. As I
look back at a simpler time in our lives—when our greatest worry was as simple
as a birthday—I realize that youth and simplicity was a state of bliss.
That six-year-old birthday party was celebrated early this
year, and at the party I heard the little
fellow tell a friend, “I’m not six
yet.” I didn’t say anything though I wanted to say that his real birthday would
be here before he knew it, and before he could blink an eye he’d be an adult celebrating
graduations, births, and anniversaries with his own family. I hope these future
celebrations will be as anticipated and as wonderful as his “real six-year-old birthday.”
Yes, time does seem to fly, but I hope as adults we can
still feel the innocent excitement we once felt in childhood.
