Summer's Last Hurrah (Hooray...)

I’m sitting here on my back deck (albeit wrapped in a sleeping bag for warmth), my face to the gold feather clouds of the sunset. Well, they were gold, but they’ve since mellowed to peach, then rose, then dusky gray…most of which I missed, because the minute I sit down to write, there isn’t a human or animal in this house that doesn’t need something from me… Summer exited the western valleys of Oregon abruptly two weeks ago, with the torrent that washed out my last event. Mornings and evenings have turned cool and misty. Afternoons have gone partly cloudy, and we’ve hardly got through a day in the last two weeks without at least a tiny shower or two spitting down on us. It’s always a relief to move out of the brown and dusty days of summer, and into the more breathable air of autumn. Trouble is, it’s happened about a month early this year. Makes one wonder what the winter will be like. Then again, we had summer weather—sunny, dry, and nearly 90 degrees—this past April. So it looks like we’re paying the piper for that now.
We made the mistake of going to Home Depot this afternoon. Started out innocently enough, picking up some things to make a new sign holder for the banner for my booth. Then, we thought we’d cruise on over and see what they had available in French doors… What was I thinking? This is a holiday weekend. The LAST holiday weekend of the summer. It cries out for a project…a last hurrah before battening down the hatches against the coming monsoons. We’ve been planning a "someday" project of putting a sliding door in our dining room, leading out to what is actually the main part of our yard, which, due to weird placement of the house on an odd-shaped lot, happens to be on the side of the house. Well, darned if old Home Depot didn’t have a great deal going on a "sliding French door." An Anderson door, no less. To make a long story short, husband is now beavering away, removing the drywall from the entire north wall of the dining room.
Yes, I know, it’s a rather LARGE undertaking for a spur-of-the-moment Labor Day home improvement project. But it seems to be making him happy, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it once it’s done. Unfortunately, I know months will pass before that eventuality. He starts a project, gets it 85% finished, and then gets distracted by something else, loses interest, or quits because he’s never done this before and is not sure how to proceed (whereupon one has to wonder why he started…) And then we’ll just live around it until I completely freak out and nag him to for god’s sake, finish it or hire someone who can… Can’t possibly complete a project without paying obeisance to the family dynamic: I am the bitch, and he is the long-suffering husband. I don’t bother about it anymore. I just get into character, say my lines, and get it over with. I know it’s the only way things ever get done around here. I learned WAY early on that trying to do a project together is the fast track to divorce court…
Well, it’s mostly dark now. I can just see the silhouettes of the spires of the big fir trees up on the hill, against the deep teal sky. Chirping of happy bugs can be heard coming from my potted geraniums (gerania?) to my left. Husband has filled two huge garbage cans and scooted them out to the garage…with what, I’m afraid to look. Guess I’d better go inside and see how he’s doing. (Making the zipping-lips-and-throwing-away-the-key gesture…) I had thought I was finished here…but I had to share that husband just walked by and asked when I was going to be done with my boyfriend online, so that he can go to "Home Depot.com" and ask how big a header he’s going to need….