in an hour

Yellow seems to be the prevailing color these days, especially on the highways and byways of our fair community.Those large purveyors of our youth, the school buses, are signaling the start of yet another school year.For some, kids and parents alike, it’s just the latest piece of the recurring puzzle. Shopping for shoes, a new backpack, maybe even a computer on tax-free weekend. A fond farewell to the lazier days of a summer well spent.But for others, those entering into a new era, it can be a time of tears and trepidation.Our little clan is feeling it at both ends of the school age spectrum. At the front side, the older grandkids are stepping out into the world of pencils and crayons with full force. The first two girls are big-shot first graders now, relative veterans in the game. The next, the first boy, is tackling full day kindergarten. Related Coverage How to make your own candles properly An introduction to the exciting world of making your own candles, including a bit of history on candle making and how the hobby has gained widespread interest. Extend Blooming Season With Some TLC Everyone wants to increase the bloom time in their landscape. With Fall right around the corner there are ways to squeeze more color out of your annuals. Why Domestic Solar Power Generation is Becoming a Fad Domestic solar power generation is the only way to eliminate electricity bills and go off grid in the long run. Many Americans coast to coast are realizing the benefits of getting solar power up and running in their homes. As power prices are going up, people are feeling the pinch and the sting is felt more with the blowback of the economic recession. Should I Wear a Corset Top Or a Bustier With My Jeans? There is a growing trend in generation Y girls to trade their traditional t-shirts for high fashion items of a corset top or bustier. The day where the corset was an old fashion clothing article worn in Elizabethan times has come to an end and we are now seeing a revitalisation of the corset in our modern age.It was a precious moment when Clara, one of the vets Louis Vuitton, called her younger cousin the day before school started.”Don’t be nervous, Bubba. I was at first but then it’s okay. You get used to it.” A bit of love at the “littles” level.Now at the other end of the school span, we have the story of the Joanster. Off to mid-Missouri we trekked last week, two carloads of clothes and bags and shoes and hampers in tow. As we packed up that morning, I stopped for a moment and looked around the neighborhood. Where did that little kid go who at two years old grabbed the string of ID cards and her big sisters swimsuit and toddled 2 blocks to the community pool? Who at four insisted she spoke Spanish LV, and jabbered incessantly to her Cabbage Patch doll with the broken piece in the noggin that she named Baby Shaky Head? The kid who rolled up and down the sidewalk for hours on her scooter with best friend Sammy, their pink oversized helmets jostling all the way?How could it be that this beautiful birdie was about to fly?Those nests we build seem to take a lifetime to finish. Then, in a day, in an hour, in an instant, they’re empty. For us, this marks the end of a 34-year era. For her, it’s the start of a grand adventure. Joanie’s mommy, who has used up her yearly allotment of Kleenex during these past few days, has a favorite quote for moments such as this. It comes from the song “Closing Time”, and it goes “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.”For years, we had a poster that also helps sum up what this is all about. The script is simple, yet profound.”There are two great things parents can give their children. One is roots. The other, wings.”As we and countless others out there bid goodbye to our own, some for a day, some for longer, we pray that these roots have grown deep enough.And that those wings may they have the strength to reach heights unimagined.(From A Boomer’s Journal, by Tom Anselm, Suburban Journals of St. Louis, MO, August 2009)