so long sweet summer

any texas kid knows that summer has nothing to do with the seasons.  because the quote unquote end of the summer is whenever that dreaded day pulls us with its’ inescapable force back to the dreary life of schoolery.  

the end was nigh for me when i saw this going down also they are so cute the backpacks the little shoes the bus

gone were the days when you could wake up at a decent hour, have breakfast at your leisure, play a few rounds of super nintendo, swim your fingers and toes to pruny wrinkly death while playing games like mermaid and diving for pool sticks, taking a bike parade with our fearless leader (momma) guiding us to the summer giant clouds (or the huge construction rock piles to play on), swimming at night in that hypnotizing green glow that would look eerie if it wasn’t in the comfort of our cozy and safe backyard, avoiding with all your might the many kamikaze june bugs that were lured by said hypnotizing green pool light to their watery graves, family reunions, family vacations, trips to target with mom in the blazing texas heat, slushees from said target to combat said heat, and oh how that sweet list goes on and on.  

i have always preferred to look at life through summer sun-tinted shades

when those days are abruptly replaced by the days of waking up in the dark, bumbling into the kitchen for some sort of help to open up those eyes that only long to gaze once more upon a summer morn, putting on those hideous itchy scratchy uniforms, meeting a new teacher, getting used to a new classroom, being made to do projects and even worse having to present them in front of people (any introvert childhood nightmare), homework, counting down until TGIF and all the delights that come with friday (pizza), counting down until thanksgiving and Christmas and spring break until it wouldn’t be pure torture to countdown until summer because it’s finally not triple digits away.  that, for a texan, is when summer is ovah.  doneskis.  peace.  

wistfully looking back at summer with longing in my heart

if we waited until summer, according to weather, ended, we would be well into October before that ship would sail.  and that's the way uh huh uh huh i like it.  

after much ado about something, my point is, summer for this texas girl has sung her swan song.  being always a texan at heart, my summer is ending with the start of work tomorrow.  fall will start on september 21st, but that has zero percent to do with when summer ends.  and summer is ending.  it was a hard, wonderful, invaluable, purifying, blessed, and yes, sweet, summer.  i have thrown together this little collage that gives the flashiest of flashes overview of the summer.  

sweet summer

and a quick rundown:
this summer i...
turned 26 (as in it has been 10 jears since i was 16.  JIGGA WHAT?)
house sat
had a conversion to mornings
babysat
learned to make iced coffee
discovered my inner blogger and set her free to do her dance in the blogland
re-discovered my love for photography
um...yeah, i went to SPAIN. with my entire family.  so rad.
cried
prayed
laughed
bid a fondest farewell to my lakehouse
bid an ever fonder farewell to my parents and mimi, my street, my house, my texas sky, my home and moved to virginia
lost bonnie to that big garage in the sky
became obsessed with Anne of Green Gables
found a tabula rasa of sorts in the form of a white toyota to drive me around in my snazzy new life
discovered that virginia, though it is not texas, possesses some redeeming qualities
spent so much good time with my dumpling and her momma
baked and discovered the goodness of homemade biscotti
blammed around d.c. with a fousin and siblings
realized how great it is to have friends living near me again
got a new job
and little did she know...it turned out more beautifully than i thought it would

i hope that was some of the best summer nut-shelling you’ve ever seen.

today i bid a quiet kiss to mid-day, mid-week, walks down west for noon Mass at St. James.  

it was a particularly warm and sunny last summer day

my cinnamon roses are still going strong

i took lots of pictures of little subtle hints that nature is putting out to warn us that fall is circling the neighborhood.

hint hint

this little lonely guy caught my eye and begged to have his photo taken so i obliged

i went to the D.C. office of my new job (and got nice and lost along the way) to drop off some papers.  this place was so magical.  colorful buildings, light blue hallways with towering ceilings and silhouettes of a little one sandwiched by a couple of bigger ones, and just a general wonderland for kiddos with special needs to be nurtured and cared for in.  my alexandria building  is a lot smaller, but it has the same vibe and the same black and white checker floors that i LOVE and want in my kitchen some day.  

st. Coletta of greater washington

i drove back into falls church with a sigh of relief that i do not live in the city.  i enjoyed a mellow evening of left overs, beer, movie and a trip to the grocery for milk.  it was not some fireworks and milkshakes and a live band and corn dogs (yeah, i said it, corn dogs) kind of farewell to the summer.  my summer has been so sprinkled with beauty and feasting and merriment and sorrow and i lived through it well enough not to need a big blow out closing.  

driving home in traffic still sporting the patriotic shades because i'm out of the regular kind it's getting a tad embarrassing....

the roses did pull out all of the stops for my last summer day

and a hearty thanks to all of you beautiful souls that helped through prayer and communion of wills, to make this summer so sweet.

a double rainbow of thanks

God’s radiant Love will be the summer warmth for me in the coming months of cold and unknowable things waiting in that bend in the road that i cannot see past.  it is well with my soul.

so long sweet summer
i stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays
so long sweet summer
i fell into you now you're gracefully falling away

enough with the cheese.  thank the Lord for all seasons of life. happy, happy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross!