Summer Holidays

We’ve just returned from an idyllic family vacation on St. Simons Island–one of Georgia’s famed ‘Golden Isles’–which I managed to enjoy immensely despite the fact that my right foot is encased in a cast and I can only hobble about on crutches at present! 😉 (A long story, involving a ladder and a peach tree and a sprayer…two days before we left on our trip…) We even went to a dinner dance one night on neighboring Jekyll Island, but my husband said that ‘dancing’ with me was like dancing with a coatrack!

It was such a lovely respite, sitting by the pool with my books and my journal that I hated that the week had to come to a close. Watching my sister-in-law’s beautiful children play and enjoy the complete leisure of a seemingly endless summer ahead made me a bit nostalgic for that sense of vacation that I really haven’t experienced since high school. I still save so many projects for the summer months, my mind trained on the idea that it’s holiday time. But it’s only a slower time if we make it so. Vacation–even a vacation mentality–won’t thrust itself through the rigid parameters of the ‘normal’. Something has to give a little, there needs to be a change, even a re-arranging. My grandmother always had a winter arrangement and a summer arrangement of her furniture, and, somehow, that represents a lot to me now as I’m considering what little adjustments I can make to give these dear, fleeting summer months a more laid-back quality.

Now, in my ‘forced retirement’, I’m having to relax a bit and realize that the stars won’t stop in their courses if I can’t make up my bed or do the dishes for a while. But even when I’m mobile again (and how grateful I will be for two good legs!!) I want to have a quiet summer. I want to remember that I have a hammock strung between two trees in the back yard and that porch swings are for sitting in, not dusting from time to time. I’ll have my dear garden, and the longed-for visit of a precious friend for a few weeks, and another trip to see my sister in New York to look forward to and enjoy. And stacks and stacks of books!

So, I’m going on something of a summer holiday around here. I’m not closing up shop till September, or anything. But the pace will be noticeably light. I’ll still be writing for the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship, and I’ll post links here when I have anything new. Check back in from time to time…but in the meantime, enjoy your own summer holidays!     

One Comment

  1. What a wonderful reminder of what summer is supposed to be..it is the simple things that make summer Summer! Time to get out Susan Branch’s Summer Book…do you remember what delight we had in making her iced lattes? That was before we could drive through Starbuck’s and grab one while we ran errands! Maybe sitting on your porch with you will help me to enjoy the slower pace of a summer that doesn’t involve moving or major projects. Didn’t you say before the Great Tumble that you wanted a slower summer?

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