Farewell, sweet August

This evening marks the end of a most glorious summer. In my mind at least. Though I've technically been doing school-ish stuff for a month already, the end of August still brings a sadness to my heart, knowing that the fall is truly upon us.
As I sat on my side porch the other night, peanut butter and banana in hand, gazing up into the amazingly beautiful Fisherville sky, it dawned on me that it is four weeks ago tonight that I drove into Fisherville for the first time, exhausted from a cross country adventure and rejuvenated by an awesome young adults retreat weekend. It is hard to believe that the four week point has come already. Partly because I still feel like I just got here. And on the other end of the spectrum, I feel like I've been here so much longer than that already.
It is interesting how quickly something that you are around constantly becomes normal. Maybe that sounds kind of strange, but really think about it. Something that you've never before experienced in your life is all of a sudden consistently present. And before you know it, you feel strange when it's not there. Perhaps I'm being too vague. What I'm referring to mainly is my whole living in what some might call "the middle of nowhere" and all that this entails. This style of life is fast becoming normal for me. And I find myself thinking of things I was missing out on before now. (though I miss a great many things and people from life before now as well)
The quiet of the country really spoils you. That night when I was sitting out under the stars with my peanut butter and banana, I got slightly annoyed at 3 cars in a row driving in front of my house because of their noisy and bright interruption of my serene moment. There was a baseball game going on at the Fisherville diamond. I really should have expected it...it's not like I can't see the lights and hear the cheering from across town (yep, it's small alright).
Ooh and last night I saw a live possum for the first time. They're kind of dumb, I'm not gonna lie. We had it cornered in my neighbours' garage, and it just kind of sat there. Then again, their dog wasn't overly keen on tearing it apart, and I'm not so sure we had the means of killing it either. But it ended up being a good hider, always slipping through our desperate clutches, so after a while we gave up the hunt.
And today I biked down to Lake Erie. It was a lovely, sunny day, only moderately warm, and the perfect day for a bike ride. It was a good 10km to the lake down the country road, past rolling fields covered in hay bails, and other fields full of Queen Anne's lace among the sea of various blue and yellow wildflowers. The lake was like glass; a far cry from my first encounter with it, where the gusting winds brought rather large waves crashing into the shore, and the stormy sky made it look less than appealing to swim in or bike along. Today, however, the sun danced on the shimmering water, and the scattered beaches that appeared as I rounded point after point along the lakeside drive made me feel like I was at some tropical vacation spot. The lakeside homes were so quaint and pretty. I found a patch of grass along the lake and sat under a tree for a while, taking in the view, marvelling at the fact that I live so close to such beauty. Fisherville and the surrounding country truly is beautiful, but I definitely have a weakness for lakes. Or oceans or streams or rivers...I just really like water, I guess.
Oh, one more random thing. So random. Anyway, Saturday, so 2 days ago, I was awoken by the sound of a spraying hose. I had forgotten that I'd told the church trustees that they could clean my eavestrophs that morning, and they were hard at work at 9am. I had plans to go out that morning, so it was no problem. After getting ready, I was a few minutes early, and decided to head out to see what they were up to out there. Long story short, I climbed the ladder onto the roof and hung out on the top of the house for a bit. Eventually I came down and went on about my day, thinking little of what I'd done. WELL. Sunday morning rolls around, and I'm always there early to greet people on the way in (great time to learn and reinforce names of people!)...and I get, no joke, 12 people in a row, come up to me and say "Good morning, Kaitlyn, I hear you enjoy climbing roofs!"
What the heck! I was so confused how everyone could know about this. I find out later, my neighbour, whom I've never met, saw me up on the roof and told a few people, who in turn told a few more people...and that's how the story goes. Ooooooh small towns. Apparently this neighbour was wondering if I was up there because I missed the mountains in BC! Hahaha. I have never met him! But apparently everyone here knows a good amount about me, whether I've ever heard of them or not. I feel like I understand in a very small way what it'd be like to be famous. I'm not so sure I like it. But anyway, most people weren't too horrified that their DPS intern was found gallovanting on rooftops. In fact, one older lady said "Why, that's okay dear, all it means is that you're adventurous!"
Anyway, I have absolutely no idea how any of this relates to the fact that it's the last day of August. But alas, that fact remains true, and I thought I would finish off the month with a blog update. I am happy here in Fisherville. God has blessed me with a wonderful church family here and every day I see glimpses of his goodness.

little thing: was introduced to raspberries in milk, and the board game "candyland" tonight. according to my fair neighbours, I haven't lived till now