Summer doldrums.

                                             The hot, dusty and ugly dog days of summer have arrived in my hometown. These last two weeks of August are the least liked of the entire year as far as weather goes. Now, I DO have some positive aspects that make them tolerable. One, that the kids roaming the streets causing mayhem will be going back to school soon. Two, that football season is here and autumn is not too far behind. And three, that the harvest time has arrived, making our farmer's markets even better!! Unfortunately, visiting them in the heat is not my idea of a good time. But we have a great little market in Vancouver that is fun to visit and has many shade trees to take shelter under at Esther Short Park, a classic American park that is such a pleasure to visit.

There are a great many farmer's markets in this Portland metro area and we are really blessed to have them almost year round. Our climate is perfect for them!!!! I hope your own markets are thriving and that we don't all depend on the chain grocery stores.

                                              Speaking of autumn and the changing of the seasons, running will only get better as these dog days die what I hope to be a quick death. While I only have two races coming up , the biggie being the North County Wine Half Marathon, I relish the idea of running in the cool and temperate days of late September and all of October and November. It simply is the best season of the year for me and I will drink in every moment I possibly can this year. Scenes like these below fill me with joy and completeness as the colour spectrum of nature really shows us the range of beauty it can produce. I could stare at these photos all day long!!!!

                                                                      On the computer front...my Dell monitor died last week and I was without said essential for longer than expected. My brother came to the rescue and now i can blog again as well as carry on my always fun chatting on Facebook, Hangouts and other online places. It's amazing how much we depend on various electronic devices. I could let them all go, sure. but I admit I do enjoy them and the connection I have to people. It makes my days fun and filled with love and joy. Sure, I'm a total chatterbox and never feel I get enough for chat time with my friends. People are busy, have families, etc. I don't expect to do it all day long. But that is part of the extrovert in me. I like communication and always will. So after this short blog, back I go to the social sites!