SUMMER DETOURS

Honestly, it was a bumpy summer with unfamiliar detours. It’s over now but where did the last 100 days go?

During the month of June, it rained 45 days here in Maine. Maybe more!  By mid-month, Mr. Wonderful and I felt like we were vying for positions as third and fourth oarsmen on the Ark. Our lawns were happy green but squishy soggy. My cucumbers gave up. The heirlooms were miserable.

In late June, Mr. W. starred in a spirited concert with four local musical headliners in the little chapel at Kennebunk Beach. Shortly after the last notes faded, he fell and broke four ribs. Two hospitalizations, a collapsed lung, a wife who fell ill with Covid right after she returned from a glorious family trip to Ireland, more rain, more trips to doctors….and July faded into August.

August in Maine is something we treasure. Not this year. Our eighth month  was 31 days of cancelling lunch dates and weekend get-aways, or calling last minute to tell our hostess, “I’m so sorry — we can’t make it tonight.” I spent lots of time driving to Maine Medical Center in Portland to cheer up Mr. W. who hasn’t wielded a five iron since mid-June — a virtual lifetime for him!

Did I feel sorry for myself and Mr. W?  Oh sure. 

Summer is brief here in southern Maine and every day matters. But then I’d get an email and learn that friend Carl was laid up for six weeks with a painful leg, friend Anne was undergoing weeks of daily radiation for skin cancer, friend Wayne’s back put him totally out of commission, another friend’s memory was beginning to scatter, and yet another friend needed a very serious eye operation. 

The bad news grew daily and exponentially. It didn’t make me feel better but I knew I had company.

Years ago, I attended a lecture by a local doctor in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The eight words I remember from his talk were: “Good health is not the absence of pain.”  At the time, I was clueless as to what he meant. No longer. I get it.

And I’m more inclined to accept the words of actress Helen Mirren: “You die young, or you get older. There is nothing in between. You may as well enjoy it.”

The Wanderer is back. Mr. W. is on the mend. As we start the fabulous fall season here along the southern Maine coast, we plan to enjoy every bit of it. There’s simply no other alternative.