Summer mirage

 

This song has been going through my head this week, one of the epic + quintessential songs from a really fun summer of my past.  "It's the summer of love, love, love." It makes me think of a little red Ford Tempo, lent by my grandparents while they were away for year, windows down, breeze rushing through my hair, twilight approaching, music up. Maybe that's why I've been craving orange popsicles and lemonade a bit.

What will this be the summer of? The kids all have completely different kinds of summer in store.

Lauren will be working full time for 7 weeks as a camp counselor in a local day camp.

Maddy will be working as a volunteer (if you visit Orchard House, look for our girl there) and attending girl's camp and EFY and doing driver's ed.

Sam will be attending an awesome service/outdoor adventure boys camp for a few weeks in July (more on that later) and then enjoying a free and easy August.  

For the first year ever, we won't all be summering to the beat of the same drowsy & spontaneous drummer. (hmm, in that analogy, am I that drummer? Yes.) Hopefully we'll still find time to go to the pond together, to bike for ice cream now and then, and go to a drive-in movie. But it'll be different kind of summer and I'll miss the old lovely togetherness (with an honest side of nagging and nerves).

However. The younger two kids are still in school for one more week. For Maddy, it's the worst week of the entire year because of finals. Is that a thing with all high schools now? Ours has university-style finals week at the end of each semester, using a special schedule where everyone takes two long exams a day, some of them cumulative for the year.  Too much and too soon, I say! Anyway, shhhhhhhh about summer around Maddy; it's all just a mirage for her at this point, a summer mirage. She's all highlighters, rewritten notes, and library afternoons until next Friday. (Go Maddy!)

. . .

photo via pinterest and this, attributed to vookie

Ahhhhhhhhhh

Goodbye, lake. You've had this effect on all of us.

Dispatch from up north

Bay View cottage, Adirondacks

(4 stings of three people in the first 15 minutes here. Ouch. We stay away from that side now.)

Conference call with a view

We're having a deliciously relaxing time in the woods of New York.

Rainy today, so we spent the day playing a 6-hour marathon of Monopoly.

If I ever run away from home, you might try looking here for me.

I'm loving this simple life of early bed times,

leisurely mornings,

and simple meals in a three-room cottage.

Why do I make life so complicated?

(I found a bar of internet coverage for a little window of time...we'll see if it loads!)

Last(ish) hurrah

We are leaving for a quiet week at a rustic cabin on one of the Adirondack lakes in upstate NY. After a frenzied week of tackling the tasks list, I'm looking forward to sitting on the dock, reading through a pile of magazines and catalogs and books, paddling in the canoe, maybe making some recipes for the family from farmstand offerings, and taking some photos. And writing. Oh, writing, I'm missing you. Hopefully I can revive my writing brain soon.

In the meantime, here are some things I've been enjoying reading + seeing + thinking about:

• Stephanie's entries about her summer in France and the ups and downs of fixing up the rental property she and her husband own there
• the Jolly Porter goes to England + Scotland (again)
• thoughts on turning envy into inspiration
• a terrific love story from a back issue of Gourmet (1978) about an evening at the Waldorf
• we all liked the movie Bandslam; pretty good for a teen musical. Surprisingly so, since the ads make it look like High School Musical 5. It is reminiscent of the John Cusack movies of the 80s, I thought.
• Just got Pat Conroy's new novel, South of Broad, just in time to take with me to the cabin. Can't wait.
• Also taking up a bit of my brain bandwidth: trying to make some decisions. Dear Mr. Frost, What happens when five roads diverge in a yellow wood? What then? Huh? I stink at decision making.

One Morning in Maine

We made it here in one piece. The forecasted rain has held off. Today reminded me of One Morning in Maine, where Sal (of Blueberries for... fame) spends a day traipsing after her father on the coast of Maine (spoiler alert: she loses a tooth). Have you read it? It's a favorite.

So far Maine is fulfilling my high hopes (which, honestly is not easy, when your {sometimes unrealistic} expectations come from glowing movies and enchanting children's books.)

A little slice of heaven, that's what they have right here in Maine.

(Not paid for by the Maine Travel Bureau, in case you're wondering.)