That's what's on tap for me this summer. How about you?
I used to be a news junkie. I just can't do it any more. My blood boils too much. My heart breaks too often.
We used to travel, but with Eddie's health restrictions, that's not in the cards right now. We normally go to concerts, to the movies, to plays and lectures, but that's not happening right now either.
Instead, my summer days will be made up of the four B's listed above. And I'm very happy about that. Make the most of each day and be grateful for it.
The crack of the bat, the low steady thrum of the crowd, the players I love, the regularity of game after game day after day, the stats, the Salvie Splash (you Royals fans know what I mean), the fun the boys of summer have... it has always made me feel happy. We're MLB subscribers, so we watch the games from the comfort of our living room in Portland. Popcorn and all. Even if I can't watch, I listen on my phone, which transports me back to the good old days when my mom would listen to the Cincinnati Redlegs games on a transistor radio, and I did the same once I left home. That tinny sound is so nostalgic and lovely.
Cranking up the oven and setting out a couple sticks of butter for softening makes me happy, too. This summer I plan to try baking bread, but will always love making a tasty batch of cookies or a beautiful layered cake.
There are lots of bird walks I'll be doing with the Bird Alliance of Oregon. I'm slowly but surely learning to identify some of the easier birds and have been reading about them in Amy Tan's new delightful book "The Backyard Bird Chronicles" as well as "What It's Like To Be a Bird" by David Allen Sibley. We put some hummingbird-attracting flowers on our balcony, and plopped a feeder in one of them, too. We've already been visited by several "hummers" and the photo below was actually made of one of them through our living room window.
And finally, books. Thanks to the great response I got to my request for book recommendations, I made an excursion to Powell's Book Store and loaded up. I can hardly wait to dig in.
So, that's what I plan to do this summer.
I used to be a news junkie. I just can't do it any more. My blood boils too much. My heart breaks too often.
We used to travel, but with Eddie's health restrictions, that's not in the cards right now. We normally go to concerts, to the movies, to plays and lectures, but that's not happening right now either.
Instead, my summer days will be made up of the four B's listed above. And I'm very happy about that. Make the most of each day and be grateful for it.
The crack of the bat, the low steady thrum of the crowd, the players I love, the regularity of game after game day after day, the stats, the Salvie Splash (you Royals fans know what I mean), the fun the boys of summer have... it has always made me feel happy. We're MLB subscribers, so we watch the games from the comfort of our living room in Portland. Popcorn and all. Even if I can't watch, I listen on my phone, which transports me back to the good old days when my mom would listen to the Cincinnati Redlegs games on a transistor radio, and I did the same once I left home. That tinny sound is so nostalgic and lovely.
Cranking up the oven and setting out a couple sticks of butter for softening makes me happy, too. This summer I plan to try baking bread, but will always love making a tasty batch of cookies or a beautiful layered cake.
There are lots of bird walks I'll be doing with the Bird Alliance of Oregon. I'm slowly but surely learning to identify some of the easier birds and have been reading about them in Amy Tan's new delightful book "The Backyard Bird Chronicles" as well as "What It's Like To Be a Bird" by David Allen Sibley. We put some hummingbird-attracting flowers on our balcony, and plopped a feeder in one of them, too. We've already been visited by several "hummers" and the photo below was actually made of one of them through our living room window.
And finally, books. Thanks to the great response I got to my request for book recommendations, I made an excursion to Powell's Book Store and loaded up. I can hardly wait to dig in.
So, that's what I plan to do this summer.
