The Last Hibiscus...

 

...of the summer. 

Those holes in its petals pay homage to its seasonal longevity, but alas...summer hath drawn to its inevitable end, taking its prettiest accoutrements with it.

Dirty summer...go ahead, take your ball and go home!

C'mon, Fall...

there's supposed to be a fairway 'round here somewhere

so many jack-o-lanterns, so little time

when the chair pillows are flannel it must be fall

every kid's fave night of the season

...let's have some fun together.

I know you won't pack your bags and leave us in the lurch like summer has...

...right?

We're already 2 games into the high school football season, and it's not even Labor Day yet...

...when we honor the men and women who built this country and continue to make it run.

This year, Labor Day is as late as it can be - Monday the 7th - and that's gonna make September zip by even faster than usual.

So enjoy your long weekend, the less popular of the twin bookends to summer...

...then get after the rest of this glorious month.

And taking my own advice, let's HGU:

Not much to tell, really...'bout the same as usual, though I did manage a 6-3 win on Thursday which should have been a 9-0 win.

But that's golf...

when perfection is the goal, you spend a lot of time looking like this

...a game of failure.

It's how we manage those failures that makes the difference.

I can pinpoint each stroke on the 3 lost holes when I knew exactly what I was going to do, and then proceeded to flub the shot.

And it's not like I was hoping for some extraordinary save -

- just a regular fairway wood, chip onto the green, or putt I wanted to lag up close to the pin.

oops

There are days I wonder why I bother; I know Karen does for sure.

Oh well; something to shoot for next week.

For reasons known only to the Atomic Monster Cafe's resident photog (didn't take many pics), we have an abbreviated 23 Skidoo this week.

No need to thank us; it's what we do:

some ideas to get you started...I checked the boxes that are most important, so please don't screw this up

a perfect summer day from the command center, before summer showed its true colors and ran like a scalded dog

saw this sign recently and gave it 2 thumbs way on up...didn't buy it however since they wanted $60 for it

strawberry transformation complete

mr. bumble caught in the act with rose (of sharon)

This summer did not play out as expected.

Not that we had any major plans for it - probably just the usual:

Work, take Friday's off for golf, spend time in and around the pool, keep up with yardwork, enjoy the shade and refreshing breeze from the command center on warm summer days, hit the farmer's market for fresh produce and visit Fenn Valley for wine occasionally.

Losing my job and stumbling into unexpected retirement changed all that.

Instead of serene, carefree summer days when the livin' is easy, this season kicked off with a heapin' helpin' of stress and a healthy side dish of something I usually detest:

Waiting.

While many of the issues we faced have been buttoned up satisfactorily by God's grace, others are still unresolved, floating in the ether of the unknown.

I'm not good at this.

I made my living fixing problems, most of which required solutions "now".

"Waiting" conjures visions of people sitting around in hospitals, anxiously twiddling thumbs while doctors and nurses actually do something to fix the problem.

But waiting is biblical and even commanded.

It encompasses active trust in the LORD, coupled with a certain knowledge that He loves us and is doing what's best for us:

When King David was in dire straits, his life in danger and surrounded by enemies, he turned to the Lord:

¹⁴ Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

    - Psalm 27:14

The prophet Isaiah echoes these same sentiments:

³¹ But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

    - Isaiah 40:31

Biblical waiting is the exact opposite of how we typically view it.

Isaiah says it involves action: getting stronger, rising up, moving forward, all in pursuit of God's will for us.

It's prayerfully seeking God's will while actively trusting Him for the results.

It's not necessarily easy for those of us raised with that prevalent "need it now" philosophy, but it does come with God's promise of results:

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

    - Romans 8:28

And so we wait.

later, mcm fans...