The Simplicity of One
Welcoming August
Welcome to August!
What does that mean to you? Here in Florida, August is a heavy month — bulky with heat and humidity, overrun with weeds and vines, slow and cumbersome, wet and weighted.
August is July’s chubby sibling. The couch-potato month. The month when we want to slow down, even when we can’t.
And, to me, August is the month of one.
In a pandemic-less year, May would be crowded with graduations, June with weddings, July with family reunions and vacations. And, August would be the month of let’s send the visitors home and lock the door, let’s hibernate in air-conditioning and Netflix or binge-read.
Let’s be one — just, one — well, maybe, two — I wouldn’t want to be without the Captain, after all!
Let’s be less. Let’s be fewer.
Our backyard wildlife has dwindled. Where did they go? To the mountains for the remaining summer? To the beach? I don’t know. But, we are feeding fewer squirrels and ducks and, at this moment, no crows.
We have a black-bellied whistling duck we named Uno. Whistlers cluster. They gather and congregate and fuss and fume. But, not Uno. Uno likes to be alone.
