Last day of Summer

Yup, it's Labor Day! And. true to Michigan's changeable weather, it is a full 30 degrees cooler than Friday or Saturday. Whoa! Mother Nature is really reigning us in to gear up for the start of School and Fall.

I spent the early morning, as I have for awhile this summer, on my porch. With a cup of strong coffee in one hand and a good book in the other ("In Spite of Myself - a Memoir") I sat with my yoga blanket over my knees and drank (!) in the cool, quiet air. So still. Sigh. Really, really nice.

I thought about my parents and how they loved to sit out here. I miss them. I thought about my friend, Kimber, who would have caught up to me tomorrow - her 49th birthday - and how we will visit her grave instead of having cake together.

I thought of the summer happenings...

My first garage sale and how fun (and work!) it was. Shared it with my friend, Nicole, and how that really jump started our friendship.

Music Sunday when the JAPC choir rocked out with some amazing music and how wonderfully my husband conducted and kept us under control.

My new glasses - after alot of years - replacing my little blue number.

Seven weeks of Summer Theatre Camp at the Barn and out in Milford.

The fun of hanging out with the Warner Clan over the 4th of July and all of us at the Quonset - inside and out! The boat ride with Kori and the cousins. The fireworks over Traverse Bay. Hanging with Adam, Mal and Steve at the Lake. Meals at Rolling Farms Cafe, Flap Jack Shack, Sleders and Amical!

MOOMERS!

Mallie and I being part of a film - "I Hope You'll Smile" - and hanging out with the Edwards Family. What a nice evening of crying! (We were part of a funeral scene.)

Stephen playing L'Inferno at the Traverse City Film Festival and the feeling of walking up to the theatre and seeing his name on the marquee!

Mallie starting cello lessons.

Anna's mum's funeral - all those amazing quilts displayed that her mum made coupled with a really lovely service. Add in the wonderful afternoon spent with Jeanne and Kathie at the St. Clair Inn.

Doing "Dream Dinners" with Mallie and making 48 portions in 2 hours! Fun.

Attending a little going away party for Julie C. and enjoying the company of our church family.

Women's Sunday and the lovely evening spent at Marieke's house - finding out what I want to be when I grow up! Totally jamming at 80!

Stephen and I,in concert, in Indian Village's Centennial Park on a lovely, breezy afternoon/evening. Eleven songs back-to-back!!

The lat three days of August with Mal and Q: Torch Lake and sleep over at Kori's. (The two of them tubing, Q. kissing Max and a long slow drag across the lake, feeling so deliciously relaxed that I put slugs to shame!) Showing Q Leland and eating my final "South Shore on Pretzel bread" of the season. Hiking to the beach of Pyramid Point, coming to the quiet, deserted, pristine beach, skinny dipping in broad daylight. (My child says she is scarred for life and we have the pictures to prove it!) Moomers, of course. The Woodland Herb Farm,(Just south of Northport. A place in business for 37 years and I think I have stopped there almost every summer of those years!) shopping at Jaffe's. Then toddling over to Black Star Farm Winery for a great lunch at Hearth and Vine with Kori and Tony. Yum! Walking around Suttons Bay and driving past the amazing Japanese house!

And here we are. Savouring the last morning and the amazing COOL! It will all end with a porch party at the Fergessiens. Food, drink and laughter.

All in all, a grand summer!

A fitting epitaph

Good morning! I was reading a passage in a book called "Bold Women in Michigan History" by Virginia Law Burns. In a passage about the abolitionist, Elizabeth Chandler, I read this poem she penned....

"The Silver Glade"

Lay me not, when I die, in the place of the dead,
With the dwellings of man round my resting place spread
But amidst the still forest, unseen and alone,
When the waters go by with a murmuring tone;
Where the wild bird above me may move its dark wing,
And the flowers I have loved from my ashes may spring.

As I think about my mother, whose ashes rest in the columbarium at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church alongside those of my father's, I think this might have been her wish as well. We did take a portion of her remains, about a month after she passed, and spread them on the beach of Good Harbor Bay and out into Lake Michigan.

I think also of my friend, Kimber, who passed away just a year ago only 2 weeks shy of her 48th birthday. I visit her grave occasionally and I am always struck by the beauty of the cemetery ...and the complete waste of space! I think I may be more closely aligned with Miss Chandler's view. No offense to those who favor traditional burial but it is not for me.

Just what I was thinking today. Carry on.

Just in case you missed it!

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan Voted Good Morning America's 'Most Beautiful Place' - ABC News

August....again

Greetings readers!


So here we are again in the confusing month of August. Why would I say that..? If I were to read over my blog entries from the last several years, I would see that pattern. Go ahead and read the August entries ... I'll wait.


Ready? See what I mean? It's the vacation month! Now, don't get me wrong, the Europeans have it totally right! I would like to take this entire month off for vacation. Maybe it would make me a more relaxed and motivated person. But there's the American angle to it. Not doing enough equals guilt. I never quite let that go. Maybe, as I approach my 50th year, I need to work hard on giving that up!

This past week has been a relaxed work week. Sure I have had students but no summer camp work till next week. I have traveled with my family up north to see my husband perform...check this out! And my favorite place on the earth...

Anyway...oh wait! Here is another great link!!

Okay, great! This was an entry that was supposed to talk about my feelings of anxiety of a slower paced month. What it is ending up to be is an ode to Northern Michigan and all that I love about it!

Okay...so that is a better read! Enjoy the links and enjoy sleeping in. I know I have!

SUMMER READING LIST - so far

COMPLETED (My own personal Book Club selections!) I hope this sparks you to pick up one of these fun books to tuck into your beach bag this season! Enjoy!!

HIDING IN THE SPOTLIGHT - a musical prodigy’s story of survival 1941 - 1946
Historic story of amazing skill and heroic efforts to survive. Written by the heroine's son Greg Dawson, it's a great read and I very much enjoyed it! It covers a most amazing true story of a young woman and her sister who used their piano skills to make it out of the horrors of the concentration camps.

THE PACT by Jodi Picoult
A little slow moving but lovely story of young love that cannot survive one girl’s obsession with suicide. I love her books and this was not my favorite but worth a summer read.

BENEATH A MARBLE SKY by John Shors
Great love story set against the history of the Taj Mahal. Was sad to see the end of this one. This uses history and builds a great story on bits of real lives.

MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND by Helen Simonson
Great look into English life and an autumn romance. Very sweet!

ENCORE PROVENCE – New adventures in the South of France by Peter Mayle
More fun in the sleepy villages of Provence. His books are such fun.

MESSENGER – the legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs by Jeni Stepanek
A tearjerker and an amazing story of strength and an angel. If you don't cry several times as you read then you have a heart of stone. This is an account that will remind you to savor every day.

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This was an extremely enjoyable read of intrigue, mystery and romance and I would highly recommend it. Set is Barcelona this is an amazing tale that takes its' time revealing the twists and turns. A great read!

THE PIANO TUNER by Daniel Mason
A book with an unsatisfying ending. If this were made into a movie you would leave the theater thinking…”really”? It is a good read…just not the best ending.

EAST OF THE SUN by Julia Gregson
Set in India in the 20s, it follows three women who come from different backgrounds and all experience a different piece of Indian culture. Nicely written and a great reminder of the faulty thinking of .."the grass is always greener..."

Summer Traditions!

Here is how every summer starts on Long Lake!

July 4th

This is a great shot of Mal and I taken by my friend, Marci, on Memorial Day. Here we are, just days from the 2nd biggest summer holiday and I can't believe Summer is, once again, racing by. I think Shirley MacLaine said it best... We are all feeling like things are speeding up as we go into the once in a lifetime alignment of the planets.

Don't you feel it? Whew.

This Sunday - the 3rd - would have been my father's 90th birthday. What a shame he is not here to see it...but would he have been up to it? He often complained how things were a lot harder once he hit 80. (A fact my mother never accepted until she hit 80!) He made it to 84 before his body gave out. I sure miss him. He passed away on 04-05-06. Easy to remember, eh?

So here we are. Those left behind and struggling to stay in the stream without drowning in it. I hope you can see, in this picture, what keeps me afloat.

Happy 4th of July, y'all!