Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Interval

My summer transportation
Independence Day, our one July holiday, has come and gone in a surfeit of food and a flurry of fireworks. Now the long summer days stretch out before me, lazy and unbound. I can sleep in if I please (and the cat allows) or wake at dawn to watch the sun roll over the horizon. I have few plans, preferring to let the days unroll as they will. There's plenty of garden and yard work to keep me busy, books to read, poems to write, friends to visit, roads to pedal along on my bicycle. I will spend a couple of days each week with my daughter and the Bean, my youngest grandchild who is nine months old already and working on her standing alone skills. In August the other grandchildren, aged 10 and 8, will spend a week at the cottage with me.

Summer will go by almost as fast as the typing of this paragraph. I will be here on rainy days and late nights but mostly I will be out of doors listening to the birds, watching the flowers drift slowly from pastels to the deeper hues of autumn, speaking with the trees and stones and clouds that I encounter.

Happy Summer!


13 comments:

Teri said...

Ahhhh, yes! Sometimes it is hard to forget how to be "a grownup" and fall back into "child" mode once again. Remember those long, carefree summers of tanned skin, thinking of boys, waking up late and going to bed late, and just "being"? Those were the days. It sounds to me like you have the right idea. I will be posting these thoughts and others myself today. Happy Summer to you!

Brian Miller said...

working on the standing up and walking...that will be fun...sounds like you have a lot of fun still to come...take each day at time and relish each moment...

Judith said...

And a well-deserved restful summer too.
Looking forward to seeing you and C and the Bean very soon!

Kerry said...

It's a glorious feeling, this one. Soak it up! Happy summer, for sure.

Hilary said...

Happy Summer. I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely.

steven said...

summertime passes like the wind through your hair. a soft pull and then gone. i'm enjoying the freedom of bicycling when and where i wish. steven

Reya Mellicker said...

This is the perfect way to encounter summer, from the seat of your bike, or wandering, or gardening.

"surfeit of food and a flurry of fireworks" - oh man, what a phrase! Wow.

Barbara said...

I enjoyed re-living those lazy days of summer when my kids were little. Now I barely have time to know what season it is. Enjoy it for me!!

Pauline said...

Teri - LOVED those days! I don't think about boys anymore and I have to avoid the sun but I'm practicing staying up late and sleeping in!

Brian M - each day has been great so far!

Judith - will let you know when I will be there :)

Kerry - will do!

Hilary - I'm having a lovely summer so far - lots of bike rides and walks and garden work and naps!

Steven - isn't it marvelous?

It is indeed Reya - and thanks for the compliment :)

I will Barbara - how many mental health days shall I put in for you?

Meggie said...

Happy summer to you!
We are shivering in one of our coldest recent winters. brrrr.

Gary said...

I love the thought that I have two months off to do many of the same things you describe. Given that the school year is often go-go-go these respites go far to refuel the soul. Happy Summer!

Brian Hayes said...

Bringing us.

You walk outside. You walk inside.

You join moving. There. You visit place. Here.

Thank you.

Pauline said...

Meggie - sending you warm thoughts, then

Gary - long, lazy summer days give most teachers the strength to return to the hectic fall school days!

Brian H - you're welcome :)