August Doldrums

        Aaaaaaah August!  It happens every August.  Does anything productive happen in August?  What reminded me of this was seeing how Congress was clearing out of town last Friday.  Talk about not deserving a vacation.
        I know that in Europe everything really does shut down for the whole month of August.  Every year this European model seems to be a model that we are also adopting.  I have nothing against slowing down and relaxing for the month and recovering for the more hurried place once September starts and everything starts to kick in again until the Thanksgiving to New Year period.  Traveling around on our roads at rush hour is a joy in August.  Tomatoes are starting to ripen and salads are so much better this time of the year.  Crabs are becoming more plentiful. Eating outside in the evening with the birds in the background is so much better than inside in the cold winter.  In our family it seems as if everyone has a birthday or an anniversary in August so I stock up with cards at the beginning of the month.  Apparently August does have the most babies born of any month.
      I remember a time in our family with kids at home when August was not so relaxing.  Getting school supplies and clothes, driving to the beach for hurried week of sun and sand before the kids had to get back for fall sports that started their practices in mid August.  I don't know how many times my wife or I would say to each other "someday we will not have this craziness!!"  So why do we call up our grown kids and ask when the grandkids can sleep over again?!  Sometimes August is just too slow for empty nesters like us.