Summer afternoons

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

~Henry James

This week I got to be a kid again with my favorite almost 4 & newly proud 6 year olds. We kayaked into “fairy coves.” We jumped off a pier and floated on our backs. We ate ice cream and watermelon. We chased fireflies after a terrific thunderstorm and actually caught a few. We stayed outside past bedtime. (Summer and grandparents have their own set of rules.) We read a Boxcar Children book and it wasn’t too old or too old-fashioned for them. It was a full week of not really thinking about anything but responding to the weather and the summer mood. This is the stuff nostalgia is made of.

Now, on this day after the summer solstice we’ve returned to our everyday lives. Vacation is over. I’m in a quiet house again. But it’s still just the start of summer and I relish that beginning. I know it will get hot. Too hot even to be on a porch under a fan. But I hope I can hold on to the childhood magic I witnessed.

I’m planning an extended writing retreat to try to harness the creativity that stirs and the ideas that surface when you follow the lead of children and nature. And I'm wishing you many ways to experience your own version of Henry James’ essence of a “summer afternoon” in the coming days.

Happy Summer to you!

J