There are three beats to our summer.

There are periods of time when we’re packing for traveling, traveling, and cleaning up after the travel. Or we have guests, who need clean sheets and a sanitized bathroom. The last two weeks have been chaotic with travel, work, and a long visit from Steve’s folks.

Now, we’re in a calm period. My guests left this morning, and I have a fridge full of leftovers; I don’t have to cook for three days. My work obligations are reasonable in scope; two days of research and no writing. I can even get time to get back to my book shop/side hustle.

My kid responsibilities are minor. Ian only has two appointments this week, and the rest of the time, he’s playing hours and hours of video games, and I have decided to not feeling guilty about it all. We have some vague plans for the last two weekends of the summer – maybe the beach, maybe camping. We’re treasuring this momentary calm, because around the corner is crunch time.

In two weeks, Steve has a big deadline for work. I’ll be busy, too. All the best articles of the year will be published at the end of summer, which usually triggers in me a mad fury of jealous writing. I’m chomping at the bit to have several uninterrupted days of work to develop two embryotic writing projects. Ian starts his school after Labor Day, so I should have a normal workday then. This is crunch time.

I suppose there are some people who like to pick a lane – chaos, calm, or crunch – but I love having it all. I appreciate today’s calm after three weeks of chaos. And I’m looking forward to the work crunch on the horizon.

The rest of year doesn’t really seem to have these distinct phases — each day is a mix of routine and work — but our summers are somehow different with more concentrated, more refined chaos and calm. Fall has its own awesomeness with the smell of fall leaves, outdoor beer festivals, and backyard fire pits, so that will be good, too.

How are things in your house right now? Calm, chaos, or crunch?

Picture: A leisurely bunch with Steve’s folks this weekend.