late summer

even when
it rains
this time of year
it usually gives way
to sunshine
in the afternoons
and people
meet up by the lake
for an apéro
or
a game of pétanque.

. . . . .

many shops
are closed.
almost everyone
seems
to have left town
for a month
holiday.
from
my american
perspective
it is annoying at first-
stores
and restaurants
closed
and
emails
quickly answered
with
réponse automatique
letting you know
they are away
until some time in august...
but then
you start to
settle in
to quieter streets
and everything
moving
just
a little bit
slower.

august 1st
is swiss national day
so everyone
from
kilometers in
every direction
gathers by
the lake
for bbqs
and fireworks.

after putting
wee grub
to bed
i sat on the balcony
and watched
the tiny lights
of boats
gathering
on the lake
for fireworks.



the swiss
know how
to put on
spectacular
firework shows.



. . . . .

we had visitors
in town
for the past week
and i finally
took the long
train ride
with them
to zermatt
to see
the matterhorn.



it was even more
beautiful
than i could
have imagined.

. . . . .

i am still
trying
to keep up
with
a drawing-a-day
but it is a struggle.
it is difficult
to find even
10 minutes
to sit down
in the last hour of light
to draw something.

mornings are best
if i have the time...




week 5:
29 juillet: pods
30 juillet: unknown yellow flower
31 juillet: wee grub's naef ring
01 août: wee grub's haba frog
02 août: orange clothespin
03 août: pencil sharpener
04 août: rosehips
(all in colored pencil)

and so
i continue...
i have
so much to do
but the summer
is fading
and i want
to enjoy it
for a little while longer.



happy
wednesday.

xo

e s c a p e

lately
i have been
wanting to escape.

bury
my head in
a book
and
forget about
stress,
work,
and
what i
s h o u l d
be doing
and
l o s e
myself
in someone
else's world.



get
in a car
with grub
and drive
to
somewhere
i have
never been.
find old
abandoned
railroad
towns...



wineries
tucked away
among
cattle
and sheep farms.


we leave
the city
with no
real destination
in mind...
pack a lunch,
a camera
or two
and end up
where
we end up.
we leave everything
behind
at least
for
the day.



we play
graveyard
along
the way.
1 point
for spotting cows
2 points
for spotting sheep
3 points
for spotting llamas
and
spotting
a graveyard
makes all
your opponents
lose their points.

grub won.

how do you
escape?

have
a lovely
weekend.
xo

s u m m e r

i am
sentimental
about summer.

i use to
wish
that
summer
would
never end.

laying on the beach
and
curling sand
between
my toes
and
the pads
of my feet.

summer was
freedom.

eating strawberries
on the cliffs
over-looking the sea
and tossing the
little green tops
over
the
edge.



watching
hang gliders
windshield-wiper
the sky.

chocolate
covered
soft serve
ice cream
from
foster freeze
melting
all over
my hands.

i long to
lay in the sun
with nothing
to do.



summers
are so different
for me now.
they are
the time
of year
i work
the hardest.
i look forward
to summer's
end.

maybe
someday
i can sit
by the sea
with
my kid(s)
and
eat
one of those
a foster
freeze
cones
again.



xo

s e a t t l e

i took
a little trip
home
to the northwest
for my birthday.



it was a trip
to visit family
so i didn't
eat out or
visit friends.
just relaxed
with the family
and enjoyed
the company
of my
very cool
almost-4-year-old
nephew.

i had
dinner at
a
regular hang out
where
my brother joe
bartends
and
my brother johnny
did the sign out front.



i met up
with my dear pal
{west coast pony}
for dinner.



then drinks
at still liquor
& the living room.
very
uncomplicated.
. . . . .

i did make
a point
to go
with
my brother
and mother
to delancey.
i couldn't resist.



it was an
{unusually}
sunny warm day.
we waited
outside
in their
make-shift
roped-off
area
enjoying wine
before dinner
in the
seattle sun.





our favorite
was the
four cheese
with
local porcini mushrooms.



i dream
of it still.

next up:
olympia.

. . . . .

happy
holiday weekend!

i say tomato

sometimes
the simplest
meal
is the best.

this time
of year
grub and i
toast
some pieces of baguette
slathered in olive oil
and
slice some
heirloom tomatoes
&
local soft mozzerella.

we
sit and eat
in front
of our laptop
watching
some random show
on hulu.
the door and windows
are open.
we hear
the sounds of
the city
and
bear stalking
spot
on the patio.

. . .

did you hear
the segment
on heirloom tomatoes
on splendid table?
i am curious
about
this book.

what do
you do
with your
heirloom tomatoes?

xo

summer souvenirs

check out
my post
on
rock art
at sew green.

happy labor day!
xo

a bittersweet plum

the transition
of
summer to autumn...
august to september
always has
a
certain
bittersweet taste.

it is when
school starts
and
the students return.
the summers
on campus
are quiet,
empty,
and have
a slow
quality
about them.
it's a time
to focus inward.
it is when
the backbone
of the campus-
grad students,
professors,
staff-
get most
of their
own work done.

then,
with what seems
like overnight,
the campus fills
like an
overstuffed pillow.

my walk from
the metro to campus
once filled with
the chik chik
of sprinklers
and
the hum
of dog-day cicadas
is now
a mash of
one
blasting radio
to the next.
sidewalks,
once empty,
are now
swarming
like a
beehive
opened
just before
a storm-
disorganized,
rushed,
disarrayed.

girls
in short short
shorts
and
tiny tight
dresses
that i never
had the guts
to wear
when i was
twenty.

this all
punctuates
the transition
of
summer
to fall.

like
autumn
written in
boldface type.

like the tartness
of the skin
of my favorite plum
that appears
at the market
this time
of year.

so so sweet
inside
with
a faint
bitterness.
a tang
left by
the summer skin.



looking to autumn.
xo

a little this, a little that

like many of you,
summer
is a busy time
for me.
especially since
it is my last
field season
for my phd
(both a relief
& very scary).

in between
daytime
caterpillar collecting,
intern-managing,
&
nighttime
moth collecting
i have had
a little time
to do
this and that.


drop-spinning classes.
more on sew green...


birthday
cupcake tasting
around town...


sight-seeing
with my sister
(she was in town
for my birthday)...


taking my siblings
moth collecting...


beautiful birthday
cut-out installation
by my brother
(inspired by
fruitless fall).


4th of july
summer roll making...


and
pie-making.

happy belated 4th!

what have you
been up to?

more soon,
xo

34

year of the
wood tiger
(card by grub)

saturday
i turned 34.
i spent it
in gettysburg.
i am a freak
for
shelby foote
and the ken burns
civil war series...

34 goals
this year:

1. learn to play 1 song
on my ukulele

2. visit another country
(brazil in february!)

3. sell/exhibit my polaroids

4. save for a digital SLR

5. pay off old debt

6. get into contact
with an old friend
(alexandra daniel)

7. be a better friend

8. take my vitamins

9. yoga 1x a week

10. always write
thank you notes

11. call the parents
1x a week

12. write to my aunts
1x a month

13. spend less money

14. take all day cycle trips

15. visit orcas island

16. tour the white house or capitol
(more difficult than you'd think)

17. practice french

18. get rid of stuff,
especially clothes

19. go to the top of the space needle

20. go to the top of the washington monument

21. go to the top of the empire state building

22. visit vermont
(shari & scott here i come!)

23. keep a day planner
(i keep forgetting things)

24. visit silvanna's grave

25. make collembola doll

26. snorkle

27. visit catalina island again

28. read more for pleasure
at least 1x book a month)

29. mail box to alexandra
(i have meant to mail it for 10 years!)

30. finish old projects

31. don't lift heavy things

32. create a cohesive
body of artwork

33. participate in
an art exhibition/show

34. be a better blogger


my chariot
(grub surprised me
by booking
a segway tour
of the battlefield)


a bday highlight
was a gift
from my sister...
macaroons
from paulette:



i have been
in love
with macaroons
since i tasted
them at
pierre hermé
in paris.
what a decadent
birthday surprise-
thank you suzy!

more soon.
thank you
so much
for reading...
xo

green berry tops

school
letting out
in june
meant
long rides
along the coast
{30 minutes
is eternity
when you
are little}
to
redondo beach.

up the coast
we drove
with the windows
open
in our
junky yellow
station wagon.
how i loved
to stick
my feet out
the window
{when my mom
wasn't looking}
and feel
the wind's
cool
pressure
on my feet
like a kite
in the wind.



on the way
home
back down
the coast
as the sun
slowly sank
we'd stop
at
the japanese lady
who sold
strawberries
and other such
things
in a
large white
shack
on the coastal
cliffs
above the sea.



my mom would
come back
to the car
with newspaper-
wrapped
flowers,
green beans,
salad greens,
and
small
wooden containers
with green-tipped
edges
filled
with tiny
strawberries.



i'd eat
the berries
and throw
the green
berry tops
out the windows
at the ocean
as we hurried
home for dinner.



those berries
tasted
like the ocean
and the
sweetness
of
summer
beginning.



a taste
i have
never
been able
to find
again.

where did spring go?

{old spring pola}

i meant to post
these
market photos
last week.
sigh
where did may go?

may, please
come back.
i wasn't ready
to move
to june...



summer hit
this weekend.
hot and sticky
dc summer.
lots of
fizzy lime-aid
to get me
through the day.


{our favorite farmers}

we have
befriended
our local
farmers
at the market...
they use to
farm in the
seattle area.
we heart them
(and shawna's
cute tee).
they have a little one
due this week!!!



it's already
sunday evening
and i am
determined
that june
will be a
good month.
it's my birthday month
afterall.


{lunch on the patio}

grub is
attempting
tamales tonight
(3 days in the making)...
and then
we are
off to see
a show-
the submarines.
take a listen
here.
perfect music
for june.

this week's
market polas
tomorrow.

have
a good
week!
xo