The calendar may mark days by which we can calculate the seasons, but I think for some of us Summer does not begin on some given day of the year. Rather, it awakens with the feelings of joy and productivity we experience after the snow has melted away, and the Spring winds have died down. Summer begins with a walk down a country road on a muggy, sunny evening. Summer begins at the first bonfire of the year with friends gathered around. Summer begins when you chase seagulls on a beach and go running to meet the waves. Summer begins when you can wander through the woods and find the faces of little flowers opening for your delight.
Summer is so much more than a day on the calendar, so though today is technically the official first day of Summer, for me summer started a few months ago.
And so far this Summer...
Paddy caught a little bird that had a little wing problem... and he saved it from becoming the cat's next snack. He kept it in his bedroom until it was starting to fly around. We decided it was probably time for him to let it go when one morning I was woken up by a bird tweeting in my room! Quite an unusual wake-up call!
Dark chocolate. There is nothing to be compared. It's rich goodness can add instant happiness to any situation, making a good day better or a bad day good. ...speaking of which, my supply has run out. It's time for another trip to the store. :)
I was able to go on a second road trip to Southern Wisconsin this month. I helped my brother, Isaac, move back home for a summer job doing concrete. I was able to spend a day with Isaac, Brittany, Courtney and Christopher while I was down there. We went to Lake Michigan, played Frisbee on the beach, tested out some hammocks and danced in the waves! Well... Isaac and Brittany decided to take off on a walk and we lost them for a few hours, so we went on an adventure in search for them. En route to a lighthouse (where we figured they may have gone) we came across an old pier. Christopher walked out to see what he could see... and not seeing anything but sea he dared me to come out there, just for kicks. I handed Courtney my phone and car keys.... just in case I were to fall, and ventured out to the edge. It really wasn't that dangerous, but it was fun all the same. Courtney decided to snap this picture with my phone. I had forgotten my camera and so this is the only picture of the whole trip that I have. Yay, for Summertime fun and randomness!!
I went to a wedding last Friday night for an old homeschool friend. It was a beautiful wedding with a great emphasis on Christ being the foundation and center for their relationship. After the ceremony I got to dance the night away with my friend Sandy. Being single I had to participate in the bouquet toss. Murphy, as always, had his share of fun in the event and the bouquet hit the ceiling and fell on the ground in front of the group of single girls. An awkward moment passed and then one of the younger gals just walked up and picked up the flowers! It was really, quite funny. In the process one, single, white rose had broken off and was left on the ground, neglected by the 'lucky' recipient of the bouquet.... so I took it home with me. :) Murphy would just give me a piece of luck, eh?! ;) I also got to dance with a stranger. A cowboy fella' from North Dakota, who stood out in the crowd with his black cowboy hat and western apparel. He was there with his girlfriend and they could sure swing dance (they were so good that everyone cleared the floor to watch them do aerials and awesome swing dance moves)! ...so it was quite a pleasure to get to dance with a pro.
A side note to any single fella's who might be reading this: It's sad that there are so many guys out there where are too chicken to go for a spin on the dance floor. If you go to a wedding or some jazzy event, ask the single ladies for a dance! It'll be fun and it will likely make their day! It's the gentlemanly thing to do.
My sister-in-law Kendra and my sister Emily are both getting close to their due dates, and they are looking so good!!! You'd never guess they were almost full term. Kendra is due in July and Emily is ready to go any day!!! We know that Kendra and Jed are expecting a little girl (this will be their 3rd child).
Emily and Jacob are keeping it a surprise (this is their 1st!). We are all taking bets and making "educated" guesses. There are more of us that think it will be a little Jacob Jr. :) How exciting it will be to have two more little cherubs around!!!
Channing took me for a spin in his Ford truck the other day. It's a manual... and so he was trying to teach me to drive it. It actually didn't go too bad in my opinion but I don't know if Channing thought I was exactly a pro. He didn't like how quickly I'd let off the clutch or step on the gas.... sheesh! What a process. I definitely appreciate driving an automatic vehicle now. This was my second attempt at driving a stick-shift. On the bright side, at least there was no smoke this time.
Another crazy thing I've done so far is what my mom called, "Buckin' Bales". We're such spoiled farmers and we normally feed big square or round bales. My dad can use his skidsteer to move those around so we don't ever have to worry about dealing with small, square hay bales. Since hay is quite hard to come by this year we have to take what we can get and that happens to be the small, square bales. We borrowed some hay wagons from the neighbors and have been loading small hay bales into a wagon about every 3 or 4 days. You work up a pretty good sweat heaving bales around for three hours. Then the hay/straw sticks nicely to your sweaty skin and there is no layer of clothes that it cannot manage to get through. Scratchy, itchy, sticky work, buckin' bales is. But hey, I may have some pretty swell muscle tone by the time we've loaded the last of it up. Gotta love the farming life! Sure makes me appreciate those big square or round bales that my dad normally feeds the cows.
I am excited to see what adventures are waiting to happen as the Summer rolls on. Tonight is my dear cousin Julianne's graduation party and I'm sure that'll be a blast. ...and since there's only so much time in a day, I'd better scoot and get some things done before the fun begins.
Hope y'all are enjoying this day of "Summer Begins"! ;D
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