I'm in Pennsylvania, writing this morning from my brother's back deck, over looking the pool and the surrounding mountains. The birds are providing both my soundtrack and an air show. The sky is baby blue with puffs of white clouds - postcard perfect.
To my right is the garden which is supplying us endless side dishes. It's producing the best looking zucchini and beans I've ever seen. And just past the pool sits the outdoor kitchen with a brick fired pizza oven which we will put to good use.
In short, this is bliss.
Last night at dusk my kids caught lightening bugs in a jar. There's only a short window of time they can be caught - right between the fading day and the coming night. That activity is a prime memory from my own childhood summers by the lake.
Just like then, we have mason jars with holes punched in the lids and blades of grass dropped inside. We hold the jars up to our eyes and wait for the miracle of light-from-a-bug to happen. For some reason we don't seem to have lightening bugs in Wilmington, so I'm relieved to find they're not extinct.
I feel like a piece of their childhood is complete now that they got to examine this little bit of nature's fluorescent glory. Later this week we'll head into New York City to see a whole other type of fluorescent lights. My kids have never been into NYC so I'm excited to see the city afresh through their eyes.
But for now, I'm enjoying this easy pace of summer vacation with gentle breezes, the scent of sunscreen, bowls of fresh cantaloupe, glasses of mint tea and the nearness of family.
What's on your agenda this holiday week?
I also have fond memories as a young girl of catching lightning bugs and putting them in glass jars with slits punched in the lid. Ahhh, summer : ) Enjoy your vacation, Rachel!
ReplyDeleteYep - isn't funny how some little thing can just always say "summer" to you?
DeleteThanks, Pam.
We notice that we've seen very few lightening bugs this year.
ReplyDeleteContractors began work on my new kitchen July 5. Yeah! My sister and 2 grandkids spent a few days. We packed up all my kitchen stuff. Then we sewed little toys for Ronald McDonald House. It was nice. I just hope the kids weren't too bored.