Reflections on a Late Summer Evening

Here I sit,
Partially shaded by the smell
of the late summer's lavender,
cooled by the Delta's breeze
but warmed by hot dog's breath
hoping I'll toss the ball one more time.

Sipping an olympiad's old red -
2004: Had I already started real estate?
I flip the steak, enjoying
one of summer's great pleasures:
Barbecuing in the shade,
with the wind at my back
and the shade on my head.

Watching the autumn bees,
returned from who know where
during their commercial pollination tasks
to the relative quiet of rural Here,
I am reminded that the pace of summer,
which energizes and refreshes,
is not always the pace of life.