I’m sitting at the dining room table with a cup of tea this evening, tip-tapping away at the keyboard as the rain falls steadily outside. (The tea is Turmeric Bliss, one of my favourite store-bought herbal teas. It tastes a bit like spruce tips, but in a lovely mild and sweet way.)
Tomorrow is my last day of summer vacation, after an extra-long break this year with my surgery leave. During the last week of summer I usually write a list of all of the fun things we did over the break to make the transition back to routine a bit easier, so I’ve been thinking of all of those things this week. I had so much more energy this summer than I expected; I planned for the worst after surgery and was thrilled and delighted by the best. And so, here is my list for this summer, in no particular order - it makes me so happy to think of all of the fun that was had, especially since it all felt like a bonus.
I kayaked, solo backcountry camped, cut alders, stacked wood, went to the beach, hiked in the woods by myself and with my kids on new trails and familiar ones, read books, looked after bees and harvested honey and cleaned wax, mowed the lawn, ran errands, drove my oldest to work, hosted company, ate a million watermelons. Found a new beaver dam. Climbed on the rocks at the lighthouse and visited with old friends. I lugged garbage out of the woods and took my oldest out driving. I was woken by lightning, I thrift shopped, babysat friends’ kids, visited my neighbour in hospital. I watched The Ashes with Adam (silly point cracks me up), tennis, and our youngest’s baseball games. I gardened and gardened some more. I organized closets and cleaned, grew my first dahlias and made black currant ice cream. I watched sunflowers and poppies grow themselves while I planted seeds that did nothing. I got sunburns, froze gooseberries, tended campfires, lamented the cabbage moths, watched deer in the field. I visited Svalbard and Sweden and LA and the English canals via YouTube. I made new recipes, learned a new card game, watched meteors and looked at the moon.
That’s a pretty great list. (One of the new recipes was today’s lunch, made with romaine that I grew and beets that my Dad grew. It was delicious.)
Thanks so much to Eireann for starting the Writing Together project - it has been fun to participate this year. Much love to you, and I hope that your September comes with new beginnings and that fresh-pencil-new-notebook feeling. Onward and upward!
