I find it a bit mindboggling that the 4th of July is this Friday. The speed of time is becoming more unnerving than ever. I'll try not to think about the end of summer though and the just relish being in the midst of it. We're already bringing tomatoes and peppers in from the garden and my zinnias and nasturtiums are blooming. And I KNOW it's high summer when the Queen Anne's Lace start unfurling.
Our apple trees are heavy with apples this year (thank you for pruning them Susan!). Honestly I've never found the apples that wonderful but this year I'm inspired to make applesauce or something like that with them. Just seeing the branches drooping with the weight of the fruit makes me feel that I can't waste them, that it would be an insult to just let them fall to the ground.
I know summer will go by quickly. Friday is the 4th and we'll watch our neighborhood fireworks with friends. Next week Ernie and I are going to Nashville for David Olney's CD release show (with the great RB Morris too...how could we resist?) while our beloved Susan stays with the boys, and then I'm taking the week of the 21st off. We'll head up to Green Bay for two nights to see the Union Pacific Big Boy that's in their train museum up there and then just hang out the rest of the week at home. Another week and it's August....we have Irene Kelley coming on Friday, August 15th and then....well....damn....then the boys go back to school. Middle School AND High School.
Geesh.
For now though....I will just enjoy thinking about what I'm going to cook for the 4th. We moved into our house on the 4th of July 16 years ago. We were so surprised when the neighborhood fireworks started. Never dreamed it would be 16 years later, the house would need painting again, we'd still be broke but surrounded happily by two beautiful sweet peas and a gaggle of friends..... Life is nothing if not unexpected.