Most of the time, life in general scares me. Growing up in the country, one of the earliest memories involved walking through my grandfather’s barn. As a child, a cow seemed so intimidating.

The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are getting colder. My garden is dying. Hummingbirds are migrating south. Kids are back in school. I already saw my first autumn red leaf that has fallen and football season is starting! Summer is disappearing and fall is peaking through.

In July my family held a wedding reception for my son, John and his new wife Alicia. The wedding was held in Arizona, where he now lives, but he wanted a family celebration in Wisconsin.

In Green Bay we have had an abundance of rain this past few months! It seems to be raining almost every day. The “norm” for Green Bay, or the 30-year average, is 4.1 inches of precipitation.

In May I got to enjoy the company of my grandson Easton. My son James, and his wife Stephanie escaped the heat of Arizona and came to visit for a week. Easton is 26 months old, very curious, very stealthy and has a heart of gold.

Every so often I wake up and wonder how I have gotten to where I am. In my early thirties life hit me hard. I was 10 years in a painful marriage, overwhelmed being a mom to two active toddlers, and my career was in flux.