Summer Doldrums…

There’s something about this time of year that just gets to me.  I’m already a slow-moving person, but when it gets hot and humid, I definitely slow to a bare crawl.  This year it has had a detrimental effect on my picture taking and, consequently, my blog. I think summer always slows down my picture taking unless we’re traveling, but this year it has been worse than usual for some reason.

It's been like this for me for as long as I can remember.  I just really don’t like summer.

  I suppose there are those of you out there who could never understand the way I feel, but searching around on the interweb, I found that there are more people out there like me, albeit not that many. But it's a real condition called Summer SAD (Seasonal AffectiveDisorder) .  While I don’t think I suffer from it in a full-blown way, I do find it much harder to sleep.  The sun rises and so do I, like it or not.  Yes, we need room darkening shades.  I know, I know.   There are always too many blankets or sheets and not enough air.  I toss and turn and turn and toss.  I just can't get comfortable.

Summer is rather overwhelming to me in a social way as well.  Well, I've always been socially awkward so the parties and get togethers that seem to happen more frequently in the summer cause me a fair bit of anxiety.

The truth is that I completely and thoroughly hate the heat and humidity.  To me, the best day of the year is that first day I have to put on a sweatshirt in the morning and wear it all day.  It’s feels weird to me that when people describe paradise, they always seem to be talking about someplace in the tropics, sun-drenched, sand covered and sweat producing, while I always dream of places north.  I most definitely feel like a fish out of water this time of year or maybe a polar bear out of the Arctic.

  Oh, well, what can I do?  I have no control over it.

I decided that what I needed to do today is make the most of what is good about summertime, besides baseball, that is. Summertime is colorful and I do love color.  So I went out and took a tour of our yard and came back with these.

I did manage to accomplish something this summer and it is colorful.  Thanks to The Crochet Crowd for the free pattern.  This was easier than it looks and so much fun to create.  I love the pattern.  I think another one may be in my future even though I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

One thing that is very special about today, in particular, is that it is my very colorful daughter Carrie’s birthday.  My due date with her was June 21, but she waited until July 13 to be born, which was a Friday with a full moon, of course.  And yes, it was the hottest summer ever.  Of course, it’s always the hottest summer ever when one is greatly pregnant.  But I hit the jackpot with Number One.  She’s a wonderful, big hearted, quirky, intelligent and beautiful person.  Happy birthday, Number One!

Here's a photo of Carrie and her brother Evan (Number Two) taken in 1990.  Number Two isn't so bad either, by the way.

And here's how she looks these days.  Yes, that's a spider web in her hair.  I told you she was quirky.

Saturated in Spring Color…

I've been thinking that I deserve a little color after this winter.  So yesterday, I met my daughter Carrie in Northampton and we went to the Spring Bulb Show at Smith College.  It was a wonderful celebration of exuberant color.  When I started looking through and editing my photos, I decided I also deserved to be a little exuberant with the color so here’s my interpretation of what we saw yesterday.

Here's Carrie showing off her new hair color. The ends seems to match those nice orange flowers pretty well.

The theme of the show was Monet's Gardens.  Here's the man himself in the flesh...well, maybe in the cardboard.

Our snowmelt continues even though today was pretty cold.  It's only a matter of time.

Willy-Nilly Friday Five…

1.  I actually got something done this week and here it is:

It was my first real attempt at Aran Crochet.  I enjoyed doing it and it turned out well.  I can see more of this in my future.

2.  I went out to visit my daughter Carrie who lives in Northampton, Massachusetts yesterday.  She was proudly carrying her “new to her” orange purse...a gift from her dad.  It is a pretty sweet bag, I must admit.

3.  After Carrie and I had lunch, we did a little antique browsing.  I do love poking around in antique shops even though I don’t really need or want anything much.  But I did find something yesterday that called out to me.  And it’s this:

I’m planning to repurpose this old ashtray as a fondue fork holder for our annual Christmas Eve fondue do.  I think that it will give it a much nicer second life.  I am rather enamored of the shape and color of the piece.

4.  After we left the shop, we saw this little fellow tied up waiting for his alpha.  Dogs tied to poles always look so lonely to me.  It’s like he’s saying to everyone who passes by, “Are you my mother?”

5.  Got up this morning to our first “snowfall.”  I am putting that in quotes because it didn’t amount to anything and by the time I was taking the dog out around 8 am, it was bright and sunny and sounded like it was raining out because everything was melting at a precipitous rate.  Other parts of the country have gotten hit a lot harder than we have.  But it’s early days yet.

Linking up to Tanya's Willy-Nilly Friday Five!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday…

I’ve managed to keep up with my 365 on Flickr, but I have fallen behind here.  No worries.  I got stuff together for this week’s Scavenger Hunt.

  Here are the prompts:  Relaxing, Inspiring Person, Written Word, Memories, and Best Friend.

Here’s what I’ve got:

I find it very RELAXING to meditate.  Buddha reminds me of meditation.  Buddha is relaxing.

For some reason, I have been thinking a lot about Kurt Vonnegut lately.  I have a real urge to get out my copy of Cat’s Cradle, my favorite Vonnegut book, and reread it.  I think that he is an INSPIRING PERSON so I am using a quote of his today.

I keep a travel diary when we go on trips.  Often, when we get home and I look through what I’ve written, I am amazed that I can’t make heads or tails of it.  My handwriting is pretty bad.  But now and then I get some insight from my WRITTEN WORD.

We made new MEMORIES this week when we went out to Northampton, Massachusetts to celebrate my daughter Carrie’s 29^th birthday.  Here’s a photo of Carrie and my son Evan from that day.

Who says that dogs are just a man’s BEST FRIEND?  I would argue that many women have canine best friends, too.  This is mine.  Olive the pug doesn’t like to get her picture taken but she cooperated with me this morning even though at 8:30 when we were out taking a walk, it was already 80 degrees out and miserable.  I love this jolly, little pooch!

LINKING TO ASHLEY SISK'S SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY!

Friday the 13th fence…

Here’s my fence for Friday’s Fences.  Perhaps it seems kind of apropos, it being Friday the 13th, that it is a fence that must have been around something back in the day but now is just standing there with nothing to do.  What happened to the farm that went with it?

I also want to take a minute to wish my beautiful daughter Carrie happy 28^th birthday.  It was on a Friday the 13^th 28 years ago that she was born.  Never mind that she was due on June 21.  She had to wait until the proper time.  Since then, Friday the 13^th has been a special and happy day for me.  Happy birthday, Carrie!  I am so proud that you are the generous, kind, loving and creative person you have become.

Carrie these days.

Carrie a few years ago.  She was precocious but she really couldn't read yet.  At least I don't think she could.

Linking to Friday's Fences.

Happy Days…

So I mentioned that this weekend Greg, Carrie and I drove out to Syracuse, New York to attend the graduation festivities at Syracuse University where my son Evan received his Masters of Library and Information Science.  We had a wonderful time!  I was very impressed with the way SU handled the whole thing.  Because there are close to 4,000 graduates, on the day before the official graduation ceremony, they hold Convocations for each of the colleges.  So Evan got his chance to process across the stage and have his achievement acknowledged along with the others in his College.  Back in the day, when I graduated from University of Cincinnati, they did nothing like that so I didn’t even bother to attend.

  This is much better.

Undergraduates rush down the street for their Convocation Ceremonies.  Their robes are made out of recycled plastic bottles.  How cool is that??

And on Sunday, the ceremony was relatively short and sweet but still with all the pomp and circumstance.  

There's the Master himself.

And here I am...proud mother on Mother's Day.

So now he is on the job search.  But first, he and I are going to go to Budapest, Vienna and Prague for a few days.  This should be an interesting trip for two very directionally challenged humans.  I’ll see you all when we return.

And oh, by the way, I have to show you what Carrie made me for Mother's Day.

I love it!