Summer So Far

My Summer So Far

So it’s been a typical, Arcadian summer here on the Maine coast… weather has been dry and warm with sunshine, the best in memory!  Mark and Amy have provided super companionship, a renewed interest in all the area has to offer, and we have welcomed a number of visiting guests.

Naturally we have sailed a lot, kayaked too, and enjoyed good health.  And miles of biking, Seapoint Beach bonfires, sunset cocktails at Fort Foster, regular walks with Tillie, many grilled seafood meals shared at the dining room table or on the porch, even a brownie delight sundae at Brown’s near Nubble Light.

The gardens have grown sturdily with the mild winter, wet spring and warm June.  Colors abound in both the sun and woodland gardens.  The vegetable patch has produced a veritable plethora of fine salads: Swiss chard, romaine, Asian greens, arugula, red/green lettuce,  flowering nasturtium.   And of course the standby herbs: basil, parsley, oregano, chives, thyme, mint.  Even the tomatoes are showing progress, always an uphill battle in the short, temperamental coastal climate.   Our home is enclosed by growing green, a sanctuary.

I’ve been satisfied with my summer reading list in the past couple months:

  • The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Eric Weiner
  • The Way of Zen, Alan Watts
  • Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, Muhammad Yunus
  • The Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett

I have a new-found passion with the 2010 World Cup:  a parade of national pride, sportsmanship and climatic match finishes: Brasil sempre forte com a camisa verde e amarela, our fighting USA, admirable Uruguay la celeste, gallant Ghana, durable Deutschland, and Maradona’s La Selección de Argentina.  It has been a fun few weeks for me, culminating tomorrow with the final: la furia roja de España vs Netherlands’ Oranje, no doubt a championship of epic Euro-emotion.  Tomorrow Paul and I will greet the game with vino tinto de Rioja, bocadillos de tortilla española, y gazpacho andaluz — our preferred team should come as no surprise!  Joga bonito inspires from ascendant South Africa… ¡que vivan Africa y la Copa Mundial!

Yet despite the fullness, the summers here seem so fleeting, the June solstice arrives far too soon.  Just as I ease into outdoor rhythms the days begin to shorten, the 4th of July masses arrive and crowd my sea views and slow my pedaling, the calendar fills with events and activities for the remaining weekends.

But it is summer indeed, the dies caniculares are upon us, with many fine moments to please the sense and soul.  Yes, gladly there is more to my Summer So Far

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