Wednesday, September 1, 2021

holding on to summer

I'm a summer lover. Give me long, light-filled days, blue skies, lush trees and flowers, garden-fresh tomatoes, the scent of neighbor's grilling wafting through the air, and bare feet any day. Of course, I don't like the intense heat that we sometimes get and the humidity gets ridiculous, but like Brian says, "You don't have to shovel sunshine."


Summer, for us, is also filled with birthdays. Our firstborn son, Philip (may he RIP) was born July 21st.


Me, my mom, and Brian have summer birthdays, too.


Last year, my birthday brought a derecho. We spent the afternoon in the basement due to tornado warnings. This year, intense thunderstorms knocked down trees and power lines all over our neighborhood. We were without power for 22 hours! Next year, I'm skipping town. 



We've managed to sneak in some summer day trips; our last one being to Milwaukee, Wisconsin....






This summer has flown by. It always does. The season is too short here in Illinois. I still have a summer bucket list of places I wanted to visit. 


I've been seeing fall decor on blogs and on Instagram already and I'm just not ready. I don't like rushing seasons (except winter 😜) or holidays. Technically, we still have three weeks of summer left. I suppose that still gives me some time to fit in some of those places on my summer bucket list.


But here we are, September 1st already. The perennials are fading and drying up, it gets dark at 7:30 now, the neighborhood is quiet during the day with children being back in school, dried leaves are littering the ground; even the air smells different. This time of year always makes me a little melancholy.


"How softly summer shuts, without the creaking of a door."
(Emily Dickinson, 1880)