summer

Back to School

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So long Summer.

You were a fucking blast but as they say, “all good things must come to an end”, “to every thing there is a season”, and something about white after Labor Day.

Yes, there are still officially three weeks left but the garden is ready for Fall planting and it’s back to a busy teaching schedule for me after a light one all Summer.  Today was my first day at Piedmont Virginia Community College teaching Modern dance and it made me very excited for the semester. I’ve got a great crop of students and we’re going to have fun together, I can feel it.

I can also feel that this is going to be a busy and exciting Fall, lots of teaching, lots of dancing, and several adventures already in the works.

First though, it’s time for a Summer tally.

Let’s see how I did on my list…

I swam in several a watering hole.

I ran, naked and laughing, into the ocean at night.

I finally caught two shooting stars just the other night and I was indeed sleepy.

Spicy margarita making perfection will have to be put on hold until next year, I didn’t have a single one all Summer!  I opted instead for PBR. 😉

I flew down hills on my bike, probably flashing folks along the way until I learned that boxers under skirts make well-ventilated bike shorts.

Sadly, I seemed to be in denial about the state of mosquitoes in this town when I wrote about meals on the deck and reading in the shade.  I killed three in one swat the other day.

This is the first time in well over a year that I don’t have a single green to pick in the garden but for a few lovely weeks in July I went to the store only to replenish the fridge staples; yogurt, cheese, and eggs.

It only happened twice but those early morning runs were glorious!

There was plenty of watermelon, only this time around it was mashed up with mint and plenty of rum. 🙂

And fantasy, fiction, and reality definitely each had their place.

What was your Summer highlight?

 

 

The Cherry on Top

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I have a special skill.

I can spot a fruit tree from impossible distances.  Driving down the road in Spring, Summer, and Fall I will let out a little squeal, hit the breaks, turn the car around, and investigate.  Yes, I have knocked on more than a few doors to ask “mind if I pick your apricots?”.

There was the abandoned organic pear orchard outside of Hood River, the grapes outlying a park in Salt Lake City, a cherry tree discovered while hiking in Chile, mulberries around every corner in Cville, and the wild blueberries while hiking last year, among the pounds of other foraged fruit to pass my lips.

Fruit picking, especially berries, is a very calm and meditative experience for me.

The task is so simple and straight-forward; one for the belly, one for the bowl.

Bark underfoot, up in the trees, life is sweet.

Our main mission was cherries but we found a few peaches on the brink of ripe and little, golden gooseberries.

Gooseberries are new to me.  I’m not wild for them but the astringency and tartness worked well in a salad.

As the sun started to burn bright, we retreated home to process the fruits of our labor.

My goal was to not pit a single cherry.

So I made cherry-vanilla infused vodka.

And cherry juice.

And cherry syrup.

And reduced cherry balsamic vinegar.

My hands-and kitchen-were stained a deep, dark red by the end of the day and I thought, “this is summer”.