Summer weather has settled in and we had some temperatures hovering near the 100 degree mark over the weekend. We had to begin using the air conditioner again to be comfortable in the hot afternoons and early evenings when the air is still and the sun beats down from the west. Often the temperature is still in the low to midddle 80s even when we go to bed late at night. Still the cicadas drone on. The heat doesn't seem to bother them.
We're still getting all the tomatoes we need, and finally the pepper plants are producing a little. The morning glories I planted have climbed the arch at the end of the fish pond and display lovely deep purple blooms in the morning hours. We bought a new pump for the fish pond and a friend a few blocks away gave us a dozen or more small goldfish. We enjoy sitting on the patio, listening to the splash of the fountain and watching our new arrivals swimming around their new home.
Even though summer weather lingers on and summer's not over on the calendar, the beginning of the school year always seems to be a turning point. The Labor Day holiday is right around the corner and already we are seeing football games on TV. The fall football season is ready to launch, with the Razorbacks taking on rival Auburn this Saturday and our Gravette Lions playing their first game next Friday. It won't be long before the leaves begin coloring up and we need to take a sweater along to the football games.
The hot, dry weather has been good for making hay and much hay has been put up in recent days. It doesn't take long to cure out in this sun. A friend who lives on Stagecoach Road dropped by on Thursday but said she couldn't stay long. She had to get back to the farm and get on the tractor to help her husband, who was busy in the hay field. I enjoyed her short visit and also was happy to receive letters from two other good friends this week.
I've had conversations with a couple of acquaintances in recent weeks about how much we value letters. Unlike a phone call that is over in a few minutes, a letter is lasting. It can be pulled out and read again and again. A phone call can be an interruption, but a letter does not require immediate attention. It can be saved and read at a later time. Letters can even record events for future generations. Letters I've unearthed decades after they were written have provided interesting tidbits of family history.
William James said, "As long as there are postmen, life will have zest."
Author Alexandra Stoddard pointed out that one of the joys of letters is that they aren't received on any set schedule. Going to the mailbox and discovering a hand-addressed envelope gives an unexpected lift. "Letters are magical," Stoddard said. "They enable us to nurture, connect and communicate with a worldwide circle of friends. They open doors to innumerable emotions and experiences. Letters document the chapters in our lives -- our discoveries, passions, sorrows and growth, as well as all the inevitable ebb and flow."
Novelist Louisa May Alcott made a trip to Europe in 1865. In September she recorded in her journal, "A letter from home on the 20th. It touched and pleased me very much to see how much they missed me, thought of me and longed to have me back ... The letters made me very happy, and everything brightened immensely." On Jan. 1, 1866, she wrote, "I hoped for letters but got none and was much disappointed."
Through letters we can fulfill our need to share, to connect, to feel understood. Whenever we need to feel close to a distant friend, all we have to do is write a letter. We can share news, gossip and feelings. In most of my letters, I send newspaper or magazine clippings I think might interest the recipient, or coupons they can use. Both my friend in Tulsa and one in Florida are avid readers. We delight in sharing news of books we are reading and authors whose works we enjoy.
In today's high-tech world, most have gone to emailing and texting messages. But I hope the writers of the world won't entirely abandon the practice of writing letters. They'd be eliminating one of life's greatest joys.
Susan Holland is longtime resident of Benton County and a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer. She may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 08/27/2014