Summer Reading, Reflection

I have been MIA this summer. Lost in a flurry of summer vacationing and activity with my family, just trying to fit it all in. The past couple weeks have been slow, lazy, home bound days in which I've taken up a beloved past time: reading. I've been spending days holed up in my cool, humming, electric guzzling air conditioned house just reading. Some times reading in the solitude of our yard, looking up occasionally at my gardens, and seeing Sophia playing. It's been a languorous summer dotted with travel around Wisconsin, as well as time apart from Sophia, while she spent a week with her Grandmother in Chicago, IL. All the while, I'm reading novels I pick up at the library. I find myself feeling as though my time spent reading is a guilty pleasure; that I should be "DOING" something. I suppose if I spent all my time whiling the day away, and ignoring my responsibilities, I'd have a very sheltered, sad life, but I temper it with trips to the zoo, time at the pool and when possible, time with good friends. I feel very blessed to have the flexibility of time, to plan my days around things that are enriching, and productive. It's allowed me to create a very memorable summer for Sophia and the family.

While I've been enjoying my summer immensely, I have not been entirely inspired to write and I am struggling to get back into the habit of writing the blog. The gardens are struggling, some of it is unruly, and the weeds are winning. I can't be bothered to care too much. I take care of what I can, as I can, and don't feel badly about it. I have enjoyed a bumper crop of lettuce, and feel it's going to be a grand year for carrots and potatoes, but in other news, it's yet to be seen. Our erratic weather (today it's dipping down to a cool 90 degrees. Yesterday it reached 100) and being gone for a 5 day block, reeked havoc on some of the plants. I am using this year as yet another year of learning, and, another year of getting some awesome compost to mix in and I have higher hopes for next year. If I can get the tree pruned back significantly enough to open up some more light, I might actually stand a chance next year.

Sophia is 6 this summer, and it is a delightful, wonderful age. She's making this a summer to remember for me, as much as I am able to do so for her. She is witty, and bright, inquisitive, and always informing me of little bits of information I would have missed without her insights. Each day is a new adventure, even the long, lazy days we spent together at home.