Getting Through August 6th: The Significance of Certain Days

Soloppgang, August 9th, 2015.

This past two weeks have been rather good ones. The weather was great, and work went O.K.

I'm still working on my action novel, and getting out on my bike. The birds have been more silent than usual in the woods around here -- probably because it's nesting season.

Because of the drier than normal weather, the nearby bullfrog pond is losing water. :-(

I'd try to figure out a way to add water to it, but it would just drive up my water bill. The City can't really do anything about it, unfortunately, either.

CERTAIN DAYS JUST HAVE THINGS HAPPEN

Thursday of this week was a significant day in my calendar: August 6th.

I don't know about other families, but in my own small family (mother and myself, my dad has been gone for quite a few years now), certain days seem to have these repeating characteristics, and August 6th is one of them.

August 6th was the day my father died of cancer in San Diego long ago. It was one day short of my parents' anniversary. August 6th was also the day my favorite cat was killed by a coyote in 2006.

Since then, I lock my cats down every night around this time of year.

This August 6th was -- thankfully -- a quiet day. Nothing bad happened. Life went on as usual.

My favorite tree. The ground is dry. The grass is a whitish shade of brown.

WHY THE TENTH?

Other days in my immediate family have had significance: My father was born on the 10th, both my grandfathers were born on the 10th, and I was born on the 10th -- all of us on different months. Both my grandmothers were born on the 17th of different months.

My father (as mentioned) died on the 6th (August) and my step-dad died on the 6th (February).

The grandfather I never met, although he died many years before I was born, died on my birthday. My grandmother always said that when I was born, it made a bad day a good day.

I don't know if there is any point to this significance of certain days. But I always remain aware of them. In the past, when I had relationships, big quarrels would almost always take place on holidays -- July 4th, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and New Year's.

Since I recognised that pattern that a few years ago (I'm generally good at recognising patterns, actually -- not much gets past me), I have always stayed very aware of what is happening in relationships (when I have one) during holidays because of this.

High Tension powerlines with a broken, grey sky behind them. Taken the week of August 6th, 2015.

I have read of other people experiencing more trouble in relationships during holidays. Whether it's because of the stress of the holidays themselves causing extra strain in the relationship, or some other unrelated reason, I don't know.

But anytime a holiday is coming, I always keep my eyes open.

As I write this, it is the 8th of August. The anniversary of when I got my little pal. She's the best thing that happened to me in a long time. August 8th will always be a good day because of that.

Here's hoping all of your days are good ones.

CC

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Ah, August. It's the best time of the year, weather wise, here in the Seattle area. There's probably no place like Western Washington in the summer. The temperature ranges in the mid-80's (20's C), sometimes there are slight breezes, the river's warm, the lake is warm, and the dreary rainy periods of the year seem light years away.

22 grader og strålende vaer.

This morning I took a short bike ride down the local Trail, about a 5 km round trip. It was strålende -- purely awesome. The sun was high in the sky, and there were slight clouds, but a gentle breeze. The temperature was just shy of 80 degrees (about 22C). Later in the day it got a bit hotter, but not by much.

The local eagle's nest was still being watched by one of the eagles.

A closer view of the eagle, possibly the male. You can just see the white head of the eagle if you can zoom in on the picture. The tree is a dead cottonwood.

The local pigeons were hanging out on the power wires crossing the river.

The river itself is getting low, which means the water is getting warm.

The grass here is so pale a shade of brown it looks like it's about to wither away in places. The cottonwood tree in the center of the picture will probably have dried, parched leaves by the end of the month if the sunny, warm weather continues.

The grass is getting so brown it's pale, almost a dusty yellow -- usually in August our grass is brown. Technically, Western Washington and Oregon have a type of "Mediterranean" climate, although one never thinks of the Mediterranean countries while visiting or living here. But one look around during July and August can show you why our climate is classified that way. Dry summers (and mostly mild winters, with some exceptions).

I'll finish this short post with a pic of me about 3 and a half years ago when I had a full beard. I had a few extra pounds, also.

Wishing all a great August!

CC