Summer Soul Singing...Slowly
Monday, July 20, 2009 at 10:42 AM 
It’s always hard to know where to pick up when you’ve been away from anything (blogging, home, friends, etc.) Reading Christine’s post, Summertime Slowness, I am reminded to pause and savor these moments as I re-enter home life after being gone for two weeks. The time was spent with my family of four and so I do not feel pressure to catch up with them or recount my time away.
We had a wonderful house sitter, so my home is in order with no need to deep clean or sort through piles of mail. The air is fresh outside and I long to linger in my bed as I catch up on e-mail and sprinkle in a few to-do’s along the way. Amazon Fresh delivered groceries to my doorstep before dawn and my sweet husband put them away and placed fresh flowers in a vase. I have appointments and meetings scheduled throughout the rest of the week, but for now I have the luxury of entering this time slowly.
As I recount my past weeks of travel I am aware that many of the moments I most enjoyed were the seemingly small and slow ones I could savor. Here are a few that come to mind:
- Waking up to the sunshine and delighting in my morning latte
- Watching snails move along the tide pool
- A mid-afternoon nap
- Coming face to face with a bunny in a field
- Seeing Christ Church for the first time
- Watching my children surf
- Rubbing the ears of a dog
- Strolling through Central Park
- Feeling my husband’s arm around my shoulder
- Entering the cool of The Cloisters with the rush of the world drifting away
- Singing “How Great Thou Art”
- Sharing a glass of wine with my niece
- Watching the sunset over the Olympic Mountains on our return ride from the airport
- Unlocking the door to our home
- Sleeping in my own bed
- Delighting in my morning coffee…
Reader Comments (9)
Great to see you back with tales of tidal snails. Morning coffee does it for me too.
Summer pace is slow (by my standards). I love your list, I might post something similar myself - if I get around to it!!
So happy your time away went well. I heard about some of it this morning from your niece:) (They enjoyed your time together very much!!) Your list sounds just perfect - the small moments are possibly the ones that will comfort us late in life as they may occur again and take us back to the times we've enjoyed those small things before! I would say that the absolute loveliness of WW mornings these days just takes our breath away. The 90 and 100 degree days feel really beastly in midday but by evening and then by dark the air has noticeably cooled and the mornings are breathtaking in the 60's with a breeze. They make the hot weather seem distant. My muse seems to have returned and that is so much fun to create and feel the goodness of that. I'm taking on a new volunteer opportunity this week for a few hours and in general, summer is just splendid!! Glad you're home:)
tess' tales of tidal snails sounds like a great post title. hmmmm...
ER--you can always hold the list within your own mind if it doesn't manage to make it into print!
SS--it was a great trip! i have noticed your muse appears quite active. i love it!! also, your description of WW mornings reminds me of my day today. it was so nice to sleep with open windows and a cool breeze with no humidity. can't wait to hear about the new volunteer opportunity and hopefully chat with you soon. xoxoxo
thanks, everybody for sharing in my re-entry!
Kayce/Lucy! I feel the need to respond to this post because in so many ways you are apart of it:
My list:
-driving to Lake Texoma....top down on my brand spanking new salsa red VW convertabe...Kayce style, hair blowing in the wind, Jan Arden blasting on the CD, perky flower in my dashbord vayce realizing just how much FUN LIFE IS!
-sitting with my pile of books, morning readings under the umbrella, hazelnut coffee at hand, reading, reflecting and looking out over a calm lake thinking ....He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul...and knowing that this is enough...this is everything
-seeing my beloved husband of almost 32 years come across the lawn his beautiful dog at his side knowing that despite every fear that I have had, every scary journey with my kids, he has been there, always there, a calm prescence and I know how incredibly blessed I am......
This is my summer pace...these are my precious moments. This makes my soul sing.
Love, Pamela (PS: Thanks you asking!!)
oh pamela, you go girl!!! i have tears of joy in my eyes as i read of your adventures, because yes indeedy they are my adventures too!!! thank you SOOOOO much for sharing and i'm having a little moment envisioning our convertibles in a parade of amazing women with flowing hair and spunky flowers. these things make my soul sing!!! love you
Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. Although I grew up in NYC, I never made it up to the Cloisters. One of my former students went there on my advice and brought me back their catalog. Almost as good as a visit -- almost!
As you know, while you were gone, I began co-habiting with a pair of Persian princes, cats of course! The best moments are when Humphrey rubs his face against mine and when Bogart climbs into my lap. We are getting used to one another and it is very sweet and slow. I like their pace of life: eat, nap, eat, nap, play, nap, eat, nap, play, eat, nap. Persians are laid back kittehs.
I'll add on here too, missed you Lucy! Tell me what to call you, is Lucy okay, I enjoy you as the character very much!
Also I am a New Yorker and a once upon a time Bookstore sales clerk at the Cloisters – I even got to ring the bell in the tower once a day (electronically by pushing a button – ha!)
barbara--it's funny how many people from new york say, "i've never been to the cloisters." one fun thing happened. my niece and i took a cab from mid-town and the cabbie (a native ny woman) was thrilled to drive us there. it had been one of her favorite childhood excursions.
kigen--absolutely call me lucy. i quite enjoy her myself :-) thanks for noticing my absence...
and way cool on ringing the bell, even if it was a button!!!