Salty air. Sand between your toes. A warm breeze. The sound of waves against the shore. The screech of gulls. Searching for sea glass and shells. The shock of cold, New England water against your warm skin. Walking along the shore. Talking with family. Being silent with family. Memories of childhood; mine and my children’s. Peace. Happiness. Home.

I have not had much time for blogging lately which is making me grumpy. It is also still ridiculously hot and humid which is making me beyond grumpy. One day it shall cool off and I shall be cheerful again and write all the posts that are milling around in my head. In the meantime, you get this incoherent dump of this and that. The photo above was taken at an arboretum we visited recently. There will be a full post one of these days, but I loved this mountain laurel bush. Years ago, we used to visit a state forest in Connecticut every spring because the path was lined…

I hate summer. I hate the heat. I hate the humidity. I hate the glaring sunshine. I hate that all of these things give me migraines. I hate that a large proportion of people believe not loving summer is a sin. I hate sweating. I hate the endless need for sunscreen. I hate public pools. I hate summer. (Brought to you by a week of temperatures in the 90s F and a dew point so high it makes you feel like you are swimming through the air. Maybe if this ever breaks I will remember that I like summer berries, days by the ocean, and pretty flowers but I’m not…

Earlier this month my son, daughter, and I finally made it back home to Connecticut for a week. It has been a year and a half since we have been back and that is way too long. We missed spending time with family and friends and visiting all our old, familiar, favorite places. We live in Ohio now but, for most of us, our hearts are still back east. It was a lovely week. We had a few family dinners. We visited my 99-year-old grandmother. I went thrifting with my aunt which is always one of my favorite things to do. My son visited some friends. We puttered around eating,…

Last week my husband and I went out to lunch and to Barnes & Noble. We have been trying to go out to lunch for over a month, but our house has been germ-ridden since last month when I wrote a post about canceling our trip to Connecticut. It was a lovely afternoon. I puttered around the bookstore but didn’t buy anything and then had a good, though way too pricey, gluten-free burger. Life felt like it was returning to normal after the woe and doom that has filled our house. (Yes that is dramatic. Please, just let me have the drama.) Last night, at 1:30 a.m. I woke up…