Summer in full bloom

In the words of Mary Oliver: this is how I'm spending my one wild and precious life

Summer feels like the sun pouring on your face, a hat to shield your eyes, and the spaciousness of time unfolding from the sidelines. It’s the splash of water over your legs as you kayak. It’s laying in the hammock and watching the bald eagle keep sentry. It’s walking with friends who are like family. It’s early mornings with a book and paper and late nights with another book. It’s going days without checking your calendar or email and leaving the phone in the kitchen.

Summer feels like she’s been waiting just for you.

Summer looks like cascading hanging baskets with purple, yellow and red petunias. It’s mornings with nowhere to go. Time to linger on the couch reading. Piles of books stacked atop tables. Bathing suits and beach towels hanging in the bathroom to dry. Summer looks like pool bags packed and ready, uncrustables and chips in abundance, and games of UNO and Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza at the dining room table.

Summer looks like a welcome reprieve and invitation to rest.

Summer smells like sunscreen, freshly cut grass, and pumpkin muffins your son says are the best muffins ever. It’s bug spray and campfires. It’s sweaty boys and girls with red faces and wet hair from running bases at the ball field. It’s homemade pizza on Fridays and movie nights with popcorn.

Summer sounds like cheers of “You got this” and “Run fast” and “Nice hit!” It’s the families who show up on the sidelines game after game knowing every team member’s name and clapping for them win or lose. It’s the crackling of the fire and crunching rocks as kids run between campsites. It’s the doorbell and ever-revoloving door of kids coming to and fro. It’s the running in the house breathless, “Can I go swimming at Miles’ house? and “Can we invite our friends to the park?”

Summer tastes like s’mores, popsicles, hamburgers at the concession stand, iced matcha from your favorite local bakery. It’s a fancy picnic for lunch and dinner with fruit and veggies and cheese sticks. It’s the first bite of a summer tomato plus fresh sourdough for BLTs. It’s cucumbers from the garden and strawberries from the field down the street.

Summer invites you to be here. To take in all the sights and sounds. To be present. To take deep breaths and know that this season is fleeting. But oh so precious.

And what a gift.

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A Blessing for Summer

May the God of the sunning turtle, calves and foals,
garden veggies and shade trees,
be with you this summer.

May you open your eyes
to the beauty in your front yard
a cardinal bathing
the shades of green leaves
the vibrant flowers.

May you open your eyes to the cadence of friends talking
children chasing one another through the grass
hands waving hello.

May your feet be firmly planted
reveling in the earth’s support
reverent of your place in the expansive universe,
cautious of your footprint on creation.

Open your hands
to strawberry-filled fingers reaching for a hug
one more push on the swing
another walk around the park.

Open your ears
to the convictions of fellow residents
the man asking for food assistance
the children who have one more thing to tell you.

Keep your Spirit set on seeking God
choosing joy over sadness
intent on singing a song of peace.

May the God of the gentle wind and rushing storms
trickling creeks and towering mountains,
quiet your soul.

May you dig deeper
into God’s Word.

With every daybreak and nightfall
may your body be a prayer
your life given in love,
for the sake of your neighbor
for the sake of the world.

*You can find this blessing and many others in my newest book Small Steps: Blessings to Lift Your Soul on the Pilgrimage of Life.

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What I’m Reading

• Girl of Lore by Melanie Dale. This is not my usual genre but I was hooked by this story. I loved the characters. There’s vampires and teenagers dealing with OCD and friendship. This is a great book for middle grade readers!

• The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage was a delightful read to kick off my summer reading. Think Princess Diaries. If you love the royals, this is a great book.

• Kin by Tayari Jones is my current read and I was hooked from page 1. The writing is stunning. The story follows two motherless daughters and the lives they lead.

What I’m Reading with the Kids

• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. I buddy read this with Isaac. While he was hoping for more stories and facts about Al Capone and Alcatraz (where the story takes places), the heart of this book, however, is about family and caring for one another. The daughter is on the autism spectrum and throughout the book you follow the family doing their best to find resources and support for her.

• The Wildes by Roland Smith is the first in a series following a family of conservationists and scientists, and the adventures and trouble they get into! Another buddy read with Isaac and we both loved the story.

• Front Desk by Kelly Yang is so good and invited such great conversation between the kids and I about immigrants and life in America. It was also fun to be reading this book while in California where the story is set.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!! We started the second book in the series and I couldn’t be more delighted! It’s so good to be back in the world of Hogwarts and wizards and to be sharing it with my kids.
  

  

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  One last favor, if you’ve read Small Steps (or The Beauty of Motherhood) could you take a few minutes and leave a review on Amazon? In the world of getting people to know about your book, Amazon reviews are huge! And I’m so close to locking that magical number of 50 reviews that people (who really are these people?!) say is very helpful in getting my book in front of others.
  

  Thanks for reading and being in my corner, I’m grateful for you.