hump day nuggets: bits of the season in photos and words about the last week
Margot ran out of her room, arms wrapped around her chilly shoulders. She wore a bathing suit and announced the day's plan would be to swim in the creek. "Or, if you think it's too cold we could fill up our baby pool and pretend it's the creek. Or take a bath and pretend it's the lake."
We're all feeling a little punchy and desperate for fun outdoor activity. Our forests are on fire. Smoke fills our valley, our eyeballs, our lungs. I wasn't bothered a bit at first, knowing it would pass, still high on our wonderfully mellow, warm summer. Our forests burn, it's part of where I live. But, getting into week two of this haze, I feel melancholy when I look up. They gray density is disorienting and boring. It's like all of Missoula treads in paste. Suffocating, white, slow, blah.
Last week, while Ruby and I picked tomatoes, she stomped her foot and said, "GRRRRR! This smoke! I am over it!" which made me notice how often I had said that in the last few days and notice that, no matter how consuming it felt, I didn't want to focus on what I didn't like.
So I decided that if looking up makes me feel like poop, I'd look down. There is a lot to feel thankful for on the ground.
:: Garden days are numbered, evidenced by low-slung, frost-kissed jungle in our backyard. Still, every day, we manage a basket full of something.
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