Quintessential Summer Daze

What makes a summer’s day just right?

Sunshine and heat and a tandem ride to the beach for starters…

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…a tall cool McDonald’s strawberry mango smoothie to follow,  a refreshing shower and a nap out back from happy exhaustion in the dappled seclusion of the willow…

Upon waking, juicy cold sailboat slices of watermelon till thirst is quenched and tummies tight ( :

A broiled salmon steak fished from local waters for supper and then a quiet perusal of the garden in the balmy evening and some industrious compost turning  just because making dirt is so much fun!

And at close of day a glorious billowing sky of gold and silver clouds to the west and a full arc of brilliant rainbow to the east…tying up the day as if it were a custom gift from God to us.

All these make a summer’s day just right.  What more could I ask?

But then today dawned and I couldn’t resist a little hike to a favorite ‘perch’ on the side of Scout…

And I sat and wrote and read the morning away, lapping  up the luxurious warmth of another rare summer’s day…

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And  I took pictures…

P1110649P1110650P1110653…pictures of every summery thing that struck my fancy…Well, not everything, the bumper crop of crimson huckleberries hanging daintily by the roadside I didn’t think to photograph.  I plucked little tangy handfuls and ate them instead!

Flowers everywhere are celebrating summer…

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Some with great fanfare…

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Others lollygagging about…

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The most exquisite bears thorns… she is the blackberry’s forerunner.

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And at last, home to my own flowers.

My very own first Gerber Daisy… looking artificial were it not for the rumple of wind and weather…

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A quintessential summer’s day would be incomplete without the bumbling buzz of bees, hard at work while we play…

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Here’s hoping you too are enjoying the essence of summer where you are.  What makes a summer’s day just right for you?  Drop a comment in the box before you head back out the door to smell the roses!

–LS

What’s cooler than a tandem?

It’s that time of year again, time for the fitness vacation, via tandem.

First we took in Canada Day in the big city…

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Then we drove South of the border to try out some flat miles and  link up with some other tandem aficionados.

What’s more cool than riding a tandem? 
Riding a tandem in company with other tandems! 
First there were just the two of us…

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Then two more joined us…P1110413a

And then, what’s this?! There were four more!

P1110411 P1110426cropA whole sweet family on a ‘quad’!

We rode, and feasted along the way, P1110420crop

and shared our enthusiasms for the beautiful miles, together.

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What a wonderful way to spend a summer’s day. 
Now for the watermelon and some sleep before we hit the road again tomorrow!

–LS

Around the Block…

After a busy week of planning and carrying out great celebrations of our youngest ‘chirp’ graduating, it’s been good to recoup and regroup…and make myself get out in the little windows of brightness without rain and see that all is well and still beautiful in my Father’s world…

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P1110309One saggy evening after a slow day of much rain and little inspiration I stepped out to walk around the block. This little bird, intent on rousing me from my malaise, kept swooping down at my back—till I turned and had a talk with him now high on his perch. He twittered back and we had a little responsive whistling going for just a bit before I went on my way, just a bit brighter than when I’d set out ( : P1110312

So, may I commend to you a walk around the block next time your day  hangs heavy?

And consider too these lyrics which brightened my morning today, sung here by GLAD:

 

This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad? The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad

–LS

A sad little end note here… no longer are my solo walks under surveillance from this window. My elderly neighbor of all these years, who moved here with her husband from Italy in the 50s and built the house next door to us, has moved away to live with family. Her house is now up for sale, complete with these ‘pinks’ that she always insisted smelled so much better than mine!

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