Opinion

This morning, before my first cup of coffee, I took twelve lives. By happy hour, another twenty-four. I counted.

There’s a certain kind of magic to living in a small town that means that you just know that you’re going to run into three people you know during every trip to the grocery store before you even make it out of the produce aisle. The lettuce might wilt before you get home, but at least you’ll know who’s remodeling their kitchen, whose cousin’s dog is missing and what’s going into the old empty building on Prentice Street.

It’s true that here at Beyond Reason, we occasionally make fun of things. Bunting. Cornhole. My seven-year-old daughter. But perhaps the leitmotif — the running joke readers have come to expect — is on pickleball.

School. Already. But I haven’t had all the summer fun I was allotted. Can’t we just have another month? week? day? I know this happens every year, but I’m never ready for the ends. Even though I am getting tired of cutting grass, I don’t want it to quit growing. Especially if it means cold and snow. Uff. One would think, that at my age I could gracefully deal with ends and beginnings. But no.

I’ve been busily working on my outside gardening skills this summer, attempting to coax life out of the dirt. For all the effort, it has resulted in one very large cherry tomato plant that seems determined to overtake the entire back yard, approximately seven carrots, a mass of lettuce, one monster basil plant and a few struggling pepper plants. There was also a frequent ritual of watering, weeding and checking for signs of life on days I didn’t have the luxury of rain taking care of those duties.

I believe it was Justin Bieber who once asked: Is it too late now to say sorry? I can’t tell you his conclusion because I have not listened to the whole song. I mean, I’ve started the song and it’s come to an end, but the mind wanders. That said, after a quick search, it seems like J.B. left the issue vaguely unresolved. To me, that sounds unsatisfying and dumb. So I kept searching and those on the internet that say they know assure me: it is generally never too late to say sorry. This teaches us the answer you’re looking for is out there if you’re just willing to look.

Some people spend their day off curled up with a book, maybe catching up on sleep, maybe enjoying brunch with a friend. I, on the other hand, recently decided my one solitary day of freedom would be the time to conquer every project around the house I’ve been ignoring, basically since I moved in a year ago.

For some people, August is not a month. For some people, August is a waiting room. There’s just not a lot of professional sports on television. Basketball’s on summer vacation. Hockey’s long gone. And football doesn’t start until September.

And another county fair is in the books. Swift County Fair was held in Appleton last weekend. Now we go on to the Great Minnesota State Fair, August 21-September 1. And after that, the Little Minnesota Fair, the Lac Qui Parle County Fair in Madison, September 4-7. And after all those corn dogs and cotton candy we will all need to start eating a little healthier. After all, Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that rich food is still on the horizon.

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