Dear Summer,
I must apologize to you, for I have failed to appreciate your beauty and sweet virtues in times past. Is there an explanation for my less than enthusiastic greeting when I saw you approaching, all too often, in the deserts of Southern California? Was the fault all mine, or were you part to blame? Little does it matter now, for I am delighted by my reformed attitude.
Now, as you approach, my heart races as you beckon me to join you outside for a barefoot walk across the soft, green lawn freshly washed in rain. You, oh summer, are a tender treasure anticipated by all ... here, in a wondrous land known as upstate New York. The brevity of your landing, the thrill of your warmth, the abundance of your crops. Oh, we long for you the many months of winter and early spring and mourn the loss of you when you are but half spent.
Oh summer in New York, I love thee as I have never loved another (summer). I know I can endure our parting, confident you will one day return.
Yours faithfully,
firefly
Sorry, about that, I just had to get it off my chest. Most of my readers know that I did not enjoy the near-constant summery climate of Southern California. Many people living in Los Angeles thrive on that constant blue-skied heat, but not me. Perhaps if I had been born in Los Angeles the climate would have been a part of me, but beginning my life in North Carolina with four distinct seasons I never acclimated to Los Angeles and its lack thereof.
The first year (five years ago) in upstate New York I continued to resist and fail to appreciate summer. My heart yearned for autumn and winter and I was delighted with both. It was wonderful to be able to bundle up in coats and boots and other trappings of winter. When temperatures went below zero in January, I thought it was awesome. I love the snow, I enjoy storms and wind and all things "weather". When summer returned my second year, I enjoyed the feeling of warmth on my skin, but I also had to have air-conditioning to be able to work from home, sleep at night, and survive the humidity of the very hottest days of summer.
This year I finally have a healthy frame of mind about summer. Summer in New York, at least here in upstate New York, is a treasure. She is anticipated eagerly as spring wears on. Before she quite arrives people jump on every chance bit of sunshine to run outside and do
something,
anything out under a blue sky with a glint of sun. When she arrives in earnest, people are already regretting her inevitable demise and doing everything they can possibly think of to take advantage of the little window of opportunity to get something done out of doors. By the time summer is half gone, though people are still enjoying the beauty and the warmth, a sense of melancholy does begin to wash over us, ever so gradually. It is a sweet melancholy though, because we know she will be back for another round of romping and growth as the circles of life and living continue.
The last couple of days have almost seemed like early autumn; at this moment it is nearly 11:00 a.m. and it is only sixty-seven degrees outside. We have big fluffy clouds with blue skies and a lovely breeze. It reminds me of the weather we had for last year's
Artist of The Oak Art Trail, and I know we have a shot at such a lovely day again for this year's event.
I am newly born to summer, and happy to be loving it again. I loved summer as a child, and I love it today in New York.
Thank you, New York.
Speaking of New York, my son is sending me something special for my birthday (it was this past Monday) that will commemorate my life's journey that led me to my little piece of heaven. I can hardly wait to see it, and will photograph whatever it is and share it with you all. It will probably arrive today, after my blog is posted, so I will have to post it next week.
By the way, this week he (
FlyingJunction) released a great new collection of NYC Subway Roll Signs. The one pictured here is my favorite, but there are five new signs which you can see on his all-new website.
While you are there, be sure to sign up on his email list if you like his work. He won't spam you, he won't send you lengthy or cheesy emails, and he'll never share your info. Plus, I think I'll sponsor a giveaway right here and now. Go to his website, check out his posts (they are pretty cool sneak peeks into his studio an design process), and join his mailing list. I'll ask him to hold a drawing from any new email subscribers over the next few days and the winner will receive their choice of any one of my fine art photographs of peonies or day lilies from
my fine art Etsy store. Entries for this drawing will end midnight August 14, 2011.
I'm so happy he started a blog, and I think you will enjoy it too ... so please do give it a try.
Speaking of blogs, many of you have participated in some surveys over the past several months that I was holding for a client of mine. I have been writing and designing for him for six years now and over this time we have become friends as well. We speak on the phone once a week, and I always love our conversations. His name is John Antonini, and he and his brother Orlando are
financial advisors with a pretty incredible background in business. They have started 26 businesses, including a couple of banks -- one of the banks went public. They know things that I just wouldn't have ever thought of when it comes to handling financial decisions -- whether personal or business related. I get this wonderful side benefit of working for John of learning quite a lot from him.
I've been telling him for quite some time that he should write a blog because I know people would want to learn from his experience and would benefit from his particular perspective. I was telling my husband recently that there are things John thinks of about how to structure your life financially that most people just wouldn't have any reason to know about on their own. They are also CPAs, so they help with taxes but as I have pointed out to John -- tax preparation is something they do, it is not at all who they are. In their area of expertise, John and Orlando are seriously smart guys, but with a great sense of humor.
Well, the good news is that John has started
his blog -- he'll be posting once a week for now. I've even got him using Twitter and Facebook now and he's is starting to gather email addresses so he can let people know when a new blog is out or when there is something timely and important regarding finances or taxes that we should know about.
I recommend John's blog to you, not because he is my client, but because I very honestly respect his knowledge and strategic way of thinking about things, backed by a great foundation of knowledge from real life experience, not facts he learned in books. As a matter of fact, I suggested he call his blog "Real.Life.Experience." --which he did.
And just one more thing about other people's blogs ... I was tickled to come across "Farmer Julie" at
her blog, which I found via
BlogHer.com. There is a little bit of similarity in our stories, and I thought you might enjoy her as well. So, here's to Farmer Julie and what I hope is a good read for you.
Oh, and how about my knitting? Lame though it may seem, I am still working on that second sock for little Sweet Pea.
Recipes? Here is something to try whether you are on Weight Watchers or not: Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesean ... I will publish it over the weekend in an email campaign. so pick up some eggplant, marinara sauce, and fresh grated parmesean cheese and be sure you are
on my list.
Thank you for taking the time to read with me today, and I hope you have a great week and weekend.
~firefly
