Sundial Days

Sundial at Monticello

Festina lente. (Make haste, but slowly.)

Once upon a time, not that long ago, there was a little boy who was waiting, waiting, and watching, watching from his bedroom window for something big.  This little boy loves big things...especially those with wheels...school buses, firetrucks, garbage trucks, and such. A little boy like this has no problem with multi syllable words like 'excavator' and 'bulldozer' and asks the whereabouts of every pickup on the farm when he visits as if they were beloved relatives he hadn't heard from in awhile.

Dum tempus habemus operemur bonum. (While we have time, let us do good.)

Finally, after a few false alarms...like the rumbling of the school bus at 4:30, his mommy called him to the front door to see the long awaited arrival of his uncles in the big yellow semi truck growling its way up the hill and, with a hiss of the air brakes, parking right in front of his house.

Amicis qualibet hora. (Any hour for my friends.)

A day of picking up, setting down, lifting, sweating, and probably more than a little shoving, and his house was empty of furniture and boxes, lawnmower and garden tools.  Everything left was stashed somehow into the back of two Subarus.  With a blast or two of the air horn and a little time behind the wheel (not long enough for the little boy, I'll bet!), the uncles pulled away slowly.  Next stop....Missouri.

Lente hora, celeriter anni. (An hour passes slowly, but the years go by quickly.)

2016...it happens this week.  All the days of this year: the jolly birthdays, the family travels, the sports cycle of basketballdancebaseballcountyfairfootballvolleyball, the celebrations with cakes, bbq, fireworks, the graduations, the anniversaries, are memories vividly recorded by multiple digital devices and shared over a web of tightly woven family ties.  Like the garden dial, we have measured our sunny hours.  What is past has passed.  It is time to open the New Year and speak truth to another sundial motto, "Use the Hours, Don't Count Them."

Vita in motu. (Life is in motion.)

Not every New Year holds such a new beginning.  Not every family celebrates with a housewarming.  Just a day or two after the parades are over, Levi's favorite semi will hit the road again, pulling out from Hurst Greenery on its way to Kansas City and followed by a caravan of cars loaded to the gills with helpful family members and luggage.  We can't wait to welcome these Hursts back to Missouri, to reduce the hours of "FaceTime" and increase the amount of "face time" at ballgames or birthday parties or cookouts.  Josh tells me he is going to spend the night with Levi, go bowling and play miniature golf...well, maybe not in January!

Altera pars otio, pars ista labori. (Devote this hour to work, another to leisure.)

While Ben and Kenzie put their house in order, the rest of us will celebrate this year ending in six with a long anticipated pilgrimage to Disney World...even Blake!

 Abbie used her most irresistible smile and pleading puppy dog eyes to cajole her grandfather into accompanying her despite his deeply rooted antipathy to theme parks of all stripes.  Never fear, Grandpa!  There is a Florida room facing south with patio chairs and a heated pool in your future...a cup of coffee in the morning...a glass of wine in the evening...and the splashing of your happy kids?  That should compensate for any amount of Disney....

Vivere memento. (Remember to live.)

Who knows what this new year will bring?  No, I'm not going to hazard a guess on the 2016 elections.  I don't believe the National Weather Service has a clue either. Crop prices? Forget it! Not my strong suit. But I'll bet there will be celebrations........and hard work.........thanksgiving and heartfelt prayer........that we will both cheer.... and cuss the Cardinals .....and record every moment of it to hold close to our hearts when the calendar page turns again.