soaking it up

i know summer does not officially start until tomorrow but, here in arizona, the season sneaks in early. i have been busy soaking it up, enjoying every last ray of sunshine and each warm breeze.

i am lucky to be off work during june and july so these days are mine, all mine. i treasure the unstructured time and the ability to do as i choose (for the most part, anyway.) the ease of this season brings me so much joy. happy summer, everyone!

taste of summer

i have been buying and eating lots of apricots this month. when i was young, my grandparents had several apricot trees on their property in western colorado. i remember picking them right off the tree for a snack. they seemed much bigger, almost like apples, back then.

the funny thing is that as soon as i smell an apricot, my memories of those days come back so vividly. what a delicious way to time travel!

plants, please

flowers are so beautiful. i just spent a week with a friend who was hospitalized and her many, caring friends sent vases and baskets of flowers. the room was overflowing with color.

but the smell was also overwhelming. it reminded me of a funeral. or a mortuary. it is just my humble opinion, but i prefer plants, flowering or not. i like the smell of soil and the witnessing of the various stages a live plant goes through.

precarious

i took this photo out the window of a hospital where my good friend was battling a bad infection last month. on sunday one of my husband's co-workers died of a heart attack at age 44.

we forget that life is precarious and oh so precious and fleeting. that forgetting is a good and a not so good thing. is it better to live as if you were dying or live as if you will never die?

lemon-y happiness

one of the wonderful things about living in the southwest is the citrus! it seems as though there are months and months in which the trees are adorned with these gorgeous fruits - yellows and oranges against the greenest of green.

my husband made lemon pound cake last weekend, using a martha stuart recipe.

it was so delicious - to smell while it was baking and to eat when it was cooled.

such a yummy treat for all the senses.

the 100 list

here is a fun list i found on lulu's blog. you bold the things you have done. what i enjoyed about doing it is the way it made me think of all the incredible opportunities i have had, what i need to add to my "bucket list", and those things i know for sure will never happen to me.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelos David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

published!

ok. here's a funny story for you. last may i wrote a piece titled "the abc's of packing" for a contest budget travel magazine was running. the prize was a free trip for two and i was motivated. well, i never heard anything back about the contest or my entry.

flash forward to last month when i received a budget travel magazine in the mail. i do not subscribe and i did not remember signing up but it was fun to get (i used many of the photos for journaling!) then, this past week, i received another issue. as i was looking through it on saturday, i happened to notice my name under one of the tips!

one of my packing tips, from my "abc's of packing", was picked out and published. i can't say it was my best tip or the one i would have chosen for the periodical to print, but i was thrilled to see my name, and see my words, on the page! and the writer of any tip printed in the magazine gets a free subscription for a year.

so i may never finish a novel or win a pulitzer but i can say i've been published. and i'm extremely grateful for that and the fact that, on any given day, i may be happily surprised.