Just Summer

Dear Reader,

I didn’t think that it was possible for a place to be so cold and then become so hot. Yesterday the thermometer on the car said 105 Fahrenheit. Thankfully we got our A/C fixed the week before it got really hot. In a way the heat here is easier to deal with without the humidity. But you don’t feel that you are hot until suddenly you’re hot and need a drink immediately. It’s easier to pace yourself in the humidity because you can feel it actively trying to drown you. But hot is hot and I am looking forward to fall. Though I keep reminding myself to enjoy the summer because I am sure I will miss it when its gone.

Instead of going to the beach for special occasions or last-minute excursions, we keep finding ourselves piling into the car to go to the Badlands National Park to take in the sights and look at the buffalo and the chubby prairie dogs. We have gotten to where we recognize some of the buffalo. I can see why it is tempting to walk up and pet one. Even though the sights are amazing in South Dakota, I find myself forgetting that they are there and just going about my everyday life. Of course, I did that in Florida too, but it surprised me how quickly I would get used to things around here.

I’ve stopped having to remind myself what house I am at during those fuzzy moments in the morning right before I open my eyes. I’ve stopped wishing I could visit my old bedroom, though if I got the opportunity, I wouldn’t turn down a nap in the corner of the room that I slept in for the last 20 years. I’ve even stopped staring out the window on a Saturday just wishing my friend and I could just go get coffee at our favorite place, even though I would do so in a heartbeat. I’ve even gotten brave enough to seriously consider going swimming in the dam across from our house. (In South Dakota, a man-made lake is called a dam because they dam up a place that already holds water.) My sisters have been going, though they said it was hard to get over the idea that there are no gators in it.

I still miss the beach and, oddly, sometimes the humidity. There are not the frequent afternoon thunderstorms that make everything cozy in the summer and it seems like there are no clouds to filter the sun, so when you look across the prairie it’s a green and brown haze.

Funny enough, I have a better tan in South Dakota than I did in Florida, but I was always in the office during the prime tanning time. Here, without a 9 to 5 I have the freedom to lay out in the sun, though more often I just end up with a nice farmers tan and racoon eyes. I don’t enjoy the idea of baking in the sun, but I am getting braver, I even gave the horses their afternoon hay in a sun dress today. (That may have been more because I didn’t want to do a whole wardrobe change just to throw some hay and check waters for 20 mins.)

As time goes on, I feel less awkward about leaving my job behind. Not that the actual leaving was awkward, it just feels like walking around without a backpack after you graduate school. You feel like you’re forgetting something and a little bit without a goal for the day. I think that I have adjusted to my new schedule and am creating my own daily routine and goals well enough. One thing that I will always enjoy about ranching is that the day is broken up into parts, so you do not get bored with one thing and are not too tied down to one spot. After about 11 in the morning no one is doing anything outside because it is too hot. That leaves time for inside chores and resting. In the evening we go back out to finish what we couldn’t in the morning and to do evening chores. Often, we do not wrap up until 8 or 9 pm, because the sun stays out so long, but the afternoon nap makes up for the later bedtime.

The more I am away from the office the I realize that the human brain does not thrive under the modern work schedule. At least mine does not and it has taken a while to let my brain believe again that it is ok to do nothing for a minute in the middle of the day.

Sometimes I think that moving out here was my idea that God gave his approval to, and but I am beginning to suspect that He wanted me to come out here to learn to slow down and trust him.

Sincerely,

The Rancher’s Daughter