Officially back at work, Bill has his first day of students tomorrow. On Thursday, Katie and I brought lunch to Bill in his classroom and visited some of my friends.
I am eager to embrace our new autumn routine, for this is always a cozy and comforting and productive time of year. I am, of course, already planning Katie's birthday and thinking about the yummy fall flavors to use in our dinners. We have a couple of classes scheduled for Katie this season, and we also plan to attend the library storytimes. How exciting to be able to share moments of discovery with her! We plan to commence formal homeschooling (pre-school) next year at this time, and so having a more structured autumn this year will start preparing her.
We also will be renewing our efforts to rise around the time Bill readies himself for work so that I can make him breakfast. I have been trying to rise at 6 AM. Kate and I went for early morning, hour-long walks on Thursday and Friday. We try to leave by 7:30, and we so love to be together, chatting the whole way. Then when we get home, we eat breakfast and begin the day's activities.
As the summer season closes, I want to recapture all of its joys one more time, a sort of adieu to our first season in our Hummingbird Home. We have had so much delight here... Here is a list/brainstorm of the many sounds/memories/flavors/images that will always remind me of this summer:
It was the summer of hosting parties...Midsummer Night's Eve, Father's Day, Bill's birthday, 4th of July, AP c/o 2008 reunion, Nana's birthday tea... and several lunches with friends. It was the summer of a trip to the Bay Area to see our best friends, our loved ones, and the newest members of our friend group...the summer of a glowing moon hanging high over the San Francisco fog...the summer of showing Katie Stanford, a place that celebrates a true love of learning...the summer of lunches and swims at Nana's house...the summer of watching the Perseid meteor showing in the silence of the night while my two beloveds slept soundly in their beds near midnight...the summer of The Little Mermaid and The Wizard of Oz and Katie's new ruby slippers, which made her fill with delight the first time she ever put them on...the summer of Baby Cat across the street and tuna...of trips to the library and books, books, wonderful books...the summer of seeing Heart perform again...the summer of old-fashioned, churned ice cream on the back porch...the summer of Katie talking in phrases and then sentences...the summer of time at the beach feeling the waves and building a sandcastle and meeting "seaweed man"....the summer of a hummingbird flying into our home...the summer of tea brewed in the sun and of fingerpainting and birdseed pinecones...the summer of bonfires and smores and music drifting outside through the kitchen windows...the summer of a romantic date to Tom Ham's Lighthouse and seeing Moody Blues, songs which became part of the summer soundtrack and which now will always remind me of this time...the summer of wagon rides to Amie and Boppa's...the summer of playing with pillows in the guest bedroom...the summer of Richard Scarry's Best First Book Ever...of Eloise Wilkin illustrations...of classic Little Golden Books...and other favorites...the summer of indulging in The Bachelorette after Katie fell asleep (which I should probably not be admitting)...the summer of macaroni and cheese and hotdogs...of building lego houses with Kate...of picking out toenail polish colors together at CVS...the summer of barbecues in the backyard...the summer of running through sprinklers and using the wading pool...the summer of Kate's water shoes...the summer of studying more about Hitchcock (one of my intellectual passions)...the summer of Top Chef Masters...and So You Think You Can Dance...the summer of Play-Doh sessions by the swingset...and coffee at the bistro table outside...the summer of greeting wild rabbits in the evening...the summer of sidewalk chalk...the summer of watching sunsets in the evening...and of cozy morning fog in late August...the summer of making memories in our new home together...of Kate sitting near me on the counter and helping to make meals...the summer of June rainstorms and hail...of Saint-Saens and Le Carnaval des Animaux...of bubbles and running and playing in the backyard...of a million magical instances, pressed forever to my heart...
I love my life, and our lives all together...
Goodbye, Summer 2009...we have loved you and taken joy in you, in all aspects of your season...
Contentment in the present moment...
