Late Afternoon Light at Hairy John

It was just a slice of absolutely glorious weather. Some of the first taste of cooler weather you get sometimes in August that is a harbinger of fall, which just might be my favorite season of the year.

My husband and I had made plans to do some family visiting, which meant some driving. But it was a perfect day for travel. Or for anything, for that matter. And so off we went!

Well, almost. There was a package with vitamins in it on its way to our house. It had been shipped by SmartPost, which usually means it starts out with FedEx and is transferred to the post office. 

My husband did not want the package hanging in the sun on the mailbox all day, which is what the mailman usually does. So he called and asked the post office to hold our package, and we drove to the post office to get it first, which is in the exact OPPOSITE direction from where we were traveling.

Unfortunately, the package was not at the post office. The guy said he'd call the carrier and have it delivered immediately, but when we got home, it was not there, either! My husband called back only to find the package was coming via FedEx, who knows when. So we put a sign on the front porch saying to leave the package on a chair in the shade. And off we went.

But half a mile down the road, my husband went to take a pill. Realized it was the wrong pill. Had to drive back to the house again! So we had several false starts before we actually got on our way. Started to feel like Groundhog Day! Chance of departure? Oh, maybe 80, 85 percent!

We went visiting my mom and my dad and my one older sister, Pat. And we managed to make connections with my older brother and my baby sister too. So aside from Marilyn, who is in assisted care in Danville (several hours' drive away), and Barb, who is walking barefoot with Jesus now, I saw all of my immediate family on this day.

I need to be honest here and tell you there are family stories I just can't share. But my dad is not in very good condition (he was flat on his back and asleep most of the time I was there), and my mother has her good days and her bad days; she is sometimes confused. I tried to give them hugs and love and lots of assurances, but some things are just hard. Someday I will tell you more, but not now.

And then, eventually, as the afternoon wore on, and we'd seen everyone and talked and talked and talked, and sorted out some things, it was time for us to take our leave. So we went; I shopped for tomatoes at a roadside table, while my husband ordered us a chef salad from Sal's in McAlisterville, which we stopped and ate on the way home.

The photo you see above is a picture of the little pond at the Hairy John picnic area along route 45, between Woodward and Hartleton. Doesn't it look like the Garden of Eden? It is just a lovely place, and as we got there, the evening shadows were starting to fall.

We had had an original master plan that included a long, leisurely wade at Hairy John as our final stop of the day, but time was running short and we wanted to get home. So we only spent about a half-hour. I was lucky. The late afternoon light was just lovely.

I put my toes in the chilly water and was refreshed. "I wish Barb were here!" I exclaimed wistfully to my husband. She - the original Barefoot Girl - would have had her feet in this chilly water in seconds, right by my side!

It was cool and I almost wished for a light jacket, but I knew I'd be fine once I was back in the car. So I toughed it out in my skort and short-sleeve shirt and bare feet, enjoying the coolness of the air and of the water as we headed toward night, and eventually toward home.

It is my custom to include a soundtrack song, and I can't decide between these two, so here they both are: John Mellencamp, with Sweet Evening Breeze; and Pink Floyd, with Wish You Were Here.