Summer Bucket List, Revisited

Several weeks ago, I shared my Summer Bucket List, a casual list of twenty wishes I had for Summer 2015. They varied from eat a tomato sandwich to ideas for summer trips. While I didn't quite get everything "checked off," I still had a wonderful summer. To be honest, the list wasn't so much a "to do" list as a "just for fun" list. Some of the things happened, and some didn't. Yet overall we had a wonderful summer trying new things and making memories. 

1. Read, read, read.
Success! I intentionally carved out a least fifteen minutes everyday to read, whether it was early in the morning or just before bed. I was able to get through several books for the first time since college. Follow my Good Reads series to see my favorite summer novels.

2. Finish renovating our kitchen.

Mostly a success. The main project is completed, but a few annoying details remain... like outlet covers, replacing the garbage disposal, etc. 

3. Camp at Chincoteague Island and kayak to see the wild ponies.
Sadly, this never happened. My summer was woefully bereft of wild ponies. We did go camping at Gambrill State Park howeveer!

4. Indulge in something sweet at Rita's Italian Ice.
Oh yes! Sweet, sweet success. Maybe a little too much. 

5. Eat clean and green.
Despite the above... I did manage to eat more greens this summer. It's so much easier to eat green in summertime, don't you think? When all the veggies are fresh and available at your fingertips. 

6. Visit the downtown farmer's market.

Even though it's only a block away, I somehow haven't gotten to the market yet. But harvest time isn't over yet...so I'm not writing this off just yet. 

7. Have a cookout on the patio.
Does Moes to go count? 

8. Bike around historic Frederick.
Mark and I followed the Historic Bike Tour and discovered so many new places in our little city. 

9. Eat a juicy tomato-mayo sandwich, with a fresh banana pepper on the side.
Of cooourse! Does summer even happen if you don't eat a tomato sandwich? 

10. Experiment with fresh salsa recipes.
Well, I don't know how experimental the recipes got, but I did sample with some fresno chiles and habaneros. Nearly burned our pants off, but hey. 

11. Write several book chapters.

All are badly in need of revision, but I managed to get the page total up to 250!

12. Go for evening strolls around Baker Park.

Solo greatly benefited from this addition to the bucket list. 

13. Locate a Maryland lake perfect for swimming and fishing.
Nope. We did splash our feet in Carroll Creek. Does that count?

14. Build an old-door headboard for our master bedroom.

I ended up going with an old window instead of an old door. Post to come soon!

15. Catch a jarful of fireflies.
Not quite a jarful, but I certainly caught my fair share on our evening walks. 

16. Play a pick-up game of Ultimate Frisbee.
Mark checked this one off for me. If you're interested, there's usually a pickup game every Sunday in Baker Park. 

17. Watch fireworks in the park.
To a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in which the entire crowd suddenly shouted "O!!" ... apparently a Baltimore Orioles tradition. It startled this Nats fan more than the first firework boom.

18. Go to a baseball game.
Both Major and Minor leagues! Check and check. 

19. Plant more flowers that any reasonable person needs.
Despite Mark's raised eyebrows, I did once again cover the front stoop with flower pots. I know he secretly loves it though. 

20. Try my hand at plein-air painting.

This so did not happen. Ha! Too busy chalkpainting it up at Repurposed & Refined. 

How about you? Did you check off all the items on your summer bucket list? What's your favorite memory of summer? 

Oh, August...

Do you hate August? Or do you love this final summer month? I know, I know. Technically, September is the final summer month since autumn doesn't officially begin until September 23rd. But I can't help it... as soon as I flip that calendar page and see all those "-ber" months, my mind instantly fast-forwards to boots, scarves, hot cider, and falling leaves.

But I ask again, do you like August? I used to despise this month-- too hot, too muggy, too sticky. However, as most of you know, I've been making it my personal mission to love each summer day as it comes, to relish the heat and warmth and birdsong. It all goes by too soon, you know? It passes by to be replaced with snow drifts, cold toes, and bare branches.

Even though we have been experiencing some unexpected cooler weather (translation: low 80's instead of high 90's), summer certainly lingers here. Heat oppresses the outlying fields, crackling the grass and drying the creeks. So much gold-white sunlight and washed-out blue sky, tinting our vision with this summeresque hue. Like some heavy-handed camera filter. By day, white butterflies flit among the flowers-- dried hydrangeas, prolific marigolds, blasted rosebushes. The butterflies are like a sudden, whispered secret: there, startling your senses, and then gone. By night, fireflies pulse in the trees, rendering the woods something magical and unknown.

As much as I love autumn, I don't want to think yet of faded leaves, pumpkin grins, or the first film of frost coating the ground. Not while the sun still warms my shoulders, not while ice cubes still chink and melt in my glass, not while each day still bleeds into the next, so full of sunlight.

Today, I just want to lie down, fade into the yellowing grass. The blades itching the backs of my knees and elbows. I would spread my hand, fingers wide and grasping. The sun would warm my palm. Feeling its touch, my fist would close, as if gathering the light. As if I could just grasp this day, this summer, and hold onto it forever.

Freedom and youth only last so long.

My Summer Bucket List

Living in Georgia as a teenager, I used to dread summer. Summer meant 100+ degree weather, humidity so high and thick you felt like you were breathing underwater, an endless cavalcade of gnats, and my lily-pale skin taking on a boiled lobster hue. The only times fit for outdoor activities were early morning or early evening. And you best be armed with a glass of sweet tea because even then the heat could linger, rippling over the driveway asphalt. A visible, almost tangible, heavy heat.

Over time, however, I've grown to love summer. Perhaps it took experiencing a real winter to really appreciate the scorching summer sun. This year, after slipping on ice and shoveling away feet of snow for the upteenth time, I told myself This summer I am not going to complain about the heat. Not once. And I meant it. Even as hot as it has gotten this year, I have truly enjoyed the tingle of the sun on my arms, the heavy warm air, and the pulse and glow of fireflies at night.

To truly take advantage of this season, I put together a fun summer bucket list of things I feel truly encapsulate the freedom of these long summer days. I may not get around to all of them--after all, it wouldn't this list would lose the fun aspect if I forced myself to check off each item like a mandatory to-do list. Instead, its just a bucket list of things I both love to do and want to do this summer 2015.

1. Read, read, read.
As I mentioned earlier, one of my favorite things to do in the summertime is catch up on my reading. So far, I've read about four books. My goal is six by the end of the season!

2. Finish renovating our kitchen.

3. Camp at Chincoteague Island and kayak to see the wild ponies.

4. Indulge in something sweet at Rita's Italian Ice.
Hello, Georgia Peach Gelati, I'm looking at you. 

5. Eat clean and green.

6. Visit the downtown farmer's market.

7. Have a cookout on the patio.
Preferably one complete with a little table cloth and a jar of wildflowers.

8. Bike around historic Frederick.

9. Eat a juicy tomato-mayo sandwich, with a fresh banana pepper on the side.
These things are sacrosanct in our family.

10. Experiment with fresh salsa recipes.
I already burned our pants off with a recipe chock full of fresno chiles. 

11. Write several book chapters.

12. Go for evening strolls around Baker Park.

13. Locate a Maryland lake perfect for swimming and fishing.

14. Build an old-door headboard for our master bedroom.

15. Catch a jarful of fireflies.
The one bug that doesn't make me squirm or squeal. Well, butterflies don't either. 

16. Play a pick-up game of Ultimate Frisbee.

17. Watch fireworks in the park.

18. Go to a baseball game.
If you live in Frederick and haven't yet been to a Keys game, you need to go. So much fun!

19. Plant more flowers that any reasonable person needs.

20. Try my hand at plein-air painting.

We'll certainly be checking some of these off this weekend!

What's on your summer to-do list?  Got any special plans?

Comment below, I always love to know who has stopped by!

Summer's Ending, vol. 2

Summer's ending brings its own unique color palette. It's no longer the dainty pinks and tender greens of spring, nor yet the crimsons and violets of fall. Instead, summer's ending adopts duskier hues, as if life's pigments too are growing weary and scorched by an over-zealous sun.

Like the powdery blues and washed-out yellows of a summer sunset.

The juicy reds and verdant greens of a summer's harvest. 

The chipped white and peeling red of an old farmhouse.

Or the yellow ochre and faded black of a flower hedge and its bumblebee denizens.

This post is the second installment of the series Summer's Ending.

For volume one, check out this post.