So, in honor of my last day of school with students, I created a list at work of the things I must finish in order to walk away for my summer vacation with my brain still intact. Then I sat down to write and was still in list-makin mode. So here is a list of things I'd like to do once I'm done at work this time next week (next week? wheeee!)
Make strawberry freezer jam. We love us some fresh strawberries up in this joint. Like for real. Not the big fat ones from Florida. (sorry Fla, you aren't a bad place, but those berries you send us just don't cut the mustard) Our Ohio strawberries are seconds from bursting forth in all their tiny, berry goodness. Those strawberries are so delicious you could eat only them as long as they're in season, if nutrition would allow for it.
Plan out our road trip from Toledo to Black Mountain, North Carolina with as many stops off the beaten path as possible. This could be interesting!
Photograph the countryside around our home. Nothing says home to me anymore like the sight of a Harvestore grain silo, or the whitewashed side of a barn. Time to document where we have put down roots. And summertime is the time of year to do it.
Get ourselves to the fair! Why, you ask? Well, to eat all that delicious fair food (fries, porkaleans, funnel cakes, milkshakes and more). To see the bounty of our county displayed by proud farmers and residents. This year I plan to enter something, but won't give away my secrets until it is time. I want to win!
Read. Sit on the screen porch in the summer evenings with good books, sweet tea, and the cricket songs. I start my summers each year with Barbara Kingsolver's, Prodigal Summer, and then work my way through new material. I'm open for suggestions!
Finally, to dig in the dirt, swim in the lake, lay in the sunshine, wear sundresses and sandals, watch baseball, grill food, buy Popsicles from the ice cream truck, catch fireflies, and take naps. I want to soak up this summer with every ounce of me. Who's in?
