Let’s dwell, just for this opening/closing moment, on the positive and the upbeat, and begin this summer recap with a song by the Jonas Brothers, designed for the Summer Olympics, capturing the very best of what this summer should have, and could have, been: ebullient, celebratory, and glorious. Summer should catch the sun, throw it back to us, and engage in a volley that lasts until we are spent in happy exhaustion. It should splash about in the pool, squinting from too much sunlight and too much chlorine, leaving a memory that’s as hazy as it is wonderful, searing itself into the heart of every pleasure center. It should explode into bloom like some hybrid tea rose, spreading its perfume and shifting between shades of scarlet and fuchsia and pink as it ripens into something akin to the sunset.
USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS
THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS
Thats how summer should usually go. Not this year. Instead of that, we were largely still stuck inside, with COVID cases on the rise, and the Delta variant wreaking further destruction, all because a minority of selfish fucks refused to get vaccinated, wear masks, and rise to the most basic level of human fucking decency. Compounding that fuckery was the weather, which decided to absolutely shit on us now that our pool is fully functional and we might actually have something to do on a sunny day. All in all, the nastiness that was 2020 simply carried over into 2021, with the additional factor of sheer exhaustion from the awfulness of it all making it that much worse. Summer was supposed to be better than this. And so I’m hearing this song with a bit of ironic bitterness, and only a bit, because the things I’m about to describe were some of the happier moments of the season. While I’ve never been one to sit down and take note of happiness, this seems the best time to do so. We need some of it before the season officially retires. On with the summer show!
We got a jumpstart on the summer, knowing it would end all too quickly, and christened it with ‘Where the Boys Are’ – even if the only boys who would use our pool would be me and Andy and our nephew Noah.
Skip and I officially opened the summer season with a welcome return to our almost-annual BroSox Adventure. It began with a free night at the Mandarin Oriental thanks to a dog named Cooper, continued with walks in the rain and taxi rides from heaven and hell, and in the end was one of the more hilarious trip we’ve made in service of the Sox.
In an effort to set the tone for the summer we’d hoped would arrive, ‘San Remo’ by Mika played on repeat rotation. And maybe that brought all the rain.
Despite the wet weather, family formed the warm and glowing aspect if the sun failed to do so, and it was a season of re-connecting with those who matter the most. Here we celebrated Father’s Day, grateful for our Dad as his continued in his 90th year.
The wild sweet pea, tamed in the garden.
The Ilagan twins proved summer saviors, as spending time with them as they grew into their 11th year would be one of the highlights of the season, as previewed by this Saratoga movie trip.
WE AIN’T GETTING ANY YOUNGER, TO BE HONEST I DON’T CARE
I’M NOT TRYING TO LIVE FOREVER, I’M JUST TRYING TO BE RIGHT HERE
THIS I KNOW, ONLY NOW IT’S ALL WE GOT… THIS I KNOW…
ALL THE NIGHTS OF STRIKING MATCHES, JUST TRYING TO FIND A SPARK
COUNTING DOWN TO RAISING GLASSES, COUNTING UP TO BROKEN HEARTS
THIS I KNOW, YEAH THE COUNTING NEVER STOPS… THIS I KNOW
Flowers that remind us of Gram.
Pride and panache, and a most difficult jacket to store.
One of the many differences between me and Madonna.
The cardinals did their part by lighting up our thuja hedge.
A summer song that features water hyacinth is a rare and welcome gem: the best imitation of life.
Poem of solitude for summer – especially this summer.
The dangerous perch of the future.
Sometimes it felt like echoes of sunshine were all that we had.
Summer, still standing, like this little boy beach pose, one of my first…
Another Boston trip, for which I was joined by our old pal Chris for a trip along the Esplanade, and the weighty issues of getting older, sustaining friendships, and making it through the winding roads of middle age amid a raging pandemic. We did our best to laugh at it, and only partially succeeded.
Rain and rain and more rain, and while the flowers loved it I was less than thrilled.
A pose for a pause to honor the silence.
USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS
THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANT TO REMEMBER THIS
A meditative return to friends in Connecticut after too much time apart was another highlight of the season. Missy, Joe, Julian and Cameron were all ready to lift the spirits and find the fabulousness left to the season.
I absolutely love hydrangeas, especially when they turn blue.
Speaking of blue, this is Tuesday tea.
When it rains, we find solace in our friends, and no one comes closer to providing such safety and warmth as our two favorites from Cape Cod – JoAnn and Ali – who turned a summer weekend into a badly-needed catch-up session for all that we’ve missed the last two years.
Our featured song was performed by these guys, and the the Summer Olympics were born.
An anniversary letter to my husband.
LIFE MOVES A LITTLE FASTER EVERY SECOND I’M WITH YOU
DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS AFTER, UNTIL I FOUND IT ALL WITH YOU
THIS I KNOW, IF TONIGHT IS ALL WE GOT
DON’T LET GO
JUST ONE MORE DANCE, TWO MORE DRINKS
IT’LL GO BY FAST, SO DON’T YOU BLINK
A power outage reignites mindfulness.
The Summer Olympics returned in the nick of time.
Pete Buttigieg went jogging shirtless.
And summer did its best to come to fruition.
The classic BLT sandwich, minus the B and the L.
A classic flower, perhaps in need of a new common name.
Lily for a day, beauty for a decade.
USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS
THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS
BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANT TO REMEMBER THIS
One of the silver linings of the cool and rainy weather was an enormously long bloom time for the Chinese dogwoods.
{To be continued…}
