
Category: photos
Summertime Rolls
We are at that point of July where the Fourth is a pleasant memory and the lazy, long, hot days of summer roll together. The other day, the 5:00 p.m. parking lot at Barracks Road had more parking spaces than cars in it – a tell tale sign of exactly how things slow down around here this time of year.
Without the structure of school, our days feel looser –alarms aren’t always set so mornings are quiet and casual. No rush.
No matter how hot and muggy the day is, there is an outdoor happy hour in the front yard practically every afternoon/evening, while a steady stream of teenagers/friends/neighbors and their dogs pop through to say hello. Dinner involves some version of corn/squash/eggplant/tomatoes with herbs from the garden that we linger over while we watch Betsy beagle lay in wait for lightning bugs as dusk sets in.
Bathing suits and towels hang on the line in hopes of drying between afternoon thunderstorms to be worn to the water again tomorrow. Walking the dog after dark, you can feel the heat of the day still rising off the pavement. There are always popscicles and Klondike bars in the freezer, melons, berries and peaches in the fridge. Summertime and the eating is good.
The lazy, hazy days of summer seem to stretch on endlessly, when in reality, they are fleeting at best, their time cut short by the responsibilities of work and school.
But we soak them in while we can, squeezing in as many picnics, barbecues, baseball games, berry picking, road tripping excursions as possible, swimming every day. The magic of summer may be fleeting, but thank goodness it comes around every year.
Titles are my weakness.
As I attempt to break through the wall of writer’s bloc fortified with real life, here’s a few topics I’ve either threatened to write about, have actually put words down, only to be completely dissatisfied with them OR had it kindly suggested by friends that I should write about. In no particular order: Continue reading
Middle Aged KonMari.
There has been a good bit of life keeping me distracted here lately – nothing terribly worthy of putting out on the internet for everyone to read. Continue reading
Distractions and marinated tofu Banh Mi.
I realize the need we all have for light reading and pleasant distractions at the current time, I’ve just had a hard time finding the space in which to be the person who writes it. Continue reading
January Adventure.
I woke up Sunday morning a week ago to a message from Andrea, inviting me to come out to Northern California and go to a concert with her the following Monday. I immediately thought of at least a dozen sound, responsible adult-type reasons as to why I shouldn’t just take off to the other side of the country at a moment’s notice, particularly the third week in January, which also pointed out exactly why I should drop everything and go. Continue reading
Away, again.
Pat and I packed up the dog and headed for the hills last week. Continue reading
Summer evenings in the neighborhood.
Our neighborhood is located in a small hollow. It’s rare that we get sunsets – when we do see color in the evening sky, we know it must be absolutely spectacular to the rest of the world. Continue reading
At the lake, again.
And we’re back from another trip to the lake with Will and the kids. Because it’s July and it’s hot and the best solution to all that is to just head to the lake. Continue reading
Handwritten Treasure.
On our recent visit, Pat’s mom Kathy, offered I go through a chest where she kept her late mother’s cookbooks, to see if any appealed to me. Of course I leapt at the opportunity, but seeing how I’m trying very hard to not accumulate new cookbooks, there was nothing that deemed ‘necessary’. But then I saw this:
A gallon ziploc bag full of handwritten recipes as well as recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines over the years. I was more than a little excited and when I sat down to look through it, Kathy told me I could just have it. (!!!!) Continue reading