Summer Reads
I do a lot more reading during the summer than I do during the school year. I picked up a stack of books at the local library, and just as I did when I was kid, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. It seems doubtful that I'll finish all six books before the end of the summer. But I've finished one so far: The Wall, by John Lanchester. This is the second book I've read by Lanchester (the first was his 2012 novel Capital, which I also loved) and I think I'm officially a fan. The Wall is the story of a post-climate change world where a wall is all that stands between civilization as we know it and a much vaster ocean inhabited by unspecified Others who are desperate to get over the Wall and to the safety and comfort inside. When I first started the book I wondered what could be possibly interesting about the story of a guy whose only job is to stand guard on the wall for 12 hours a day on the lookout for attacks by the rarely seen Others. But, amazingly, I found the book to be a page-turner. If you haven't filled out our summer beach reads, add this one to your list.
Summer Songs
"Gotta Live" by Tedashii featuring Jordan Feliz. Apparently this song's been out for over year, but I'm old and slow to catch up with what's out there. J Carlos brought this positive anthem to my attention early in the summer and it's been in heavy rotation ever since. Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/ENg_4jVOe3U
Also on my playlist this summer is Switchfoot's latest album Native Tongue, which came out this past spring. I wasn't particular impressed with the early singles, but I finally got around to listening to the whole album early this summer and it's really grown on me. One of my favorites is "Joy Invincible." In the first line two lines of the song, you think it's headed down familiar romantic territory "Everything fell to pieces when my eyes met yours--" until the next line takes a hard left turn towards something much deeper--"in that hospital gown. And the dreams we were once dreaming that we held so close seemed impossible now." Another standout is youth-vespers-at-the-beach-after-a-day-of-surfing sing-a-long ukulele strummer "We're Gonna Be Alright."
Summer Classes
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| Elijah's ceramics projects. They will be fired this week and then we glaze them on Tuesday |
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| My ceramics projects. How many people know that the sculpture on the bottom left is not an animal but a place? |
The boys are taking classes this summer and they love them! Swimming is Mon-Thursday for thirty minutes right before lunch time. On Wednesday afternoons Ezra also takes an art class and gymnastics. Elijah takes archery on Friday afternoons, and on Tuesdays he takes a drawing class and he and I are doing a ceramics class together.
Summer Movies
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| Now that I've seen them all, here's the order in which I liked the films: Black Panther was my favorite, followed by A Star is Born, BlackKlansman, Green Book, Vice, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, & Roma. |
I'll usually watch a movie or two each week from my Netflix DVD queue. With my completion of the 17th century costume drama The Favourite I have officially watched all the of the nominees for Best Picture this past spring. And I can say that the Academy got it wrong. Green Book was good, but not that good. If it had been up to me I would probably have chosen Black Panther. Interestingly, I haven't been to the theater yet this summer though I expect to go before the summer is out.
Summer Shows
Right now I'm semi-binging The Handmaid's Tale (one episode or so, per day) and am halfway through the second season. It's dark (sometimes literally, some of the shots are in such low light, my computer screen is basically black and I can't tell what's going on), but compelling and thought-provoking. Earlier this summer I did a true binge-watch and gobbled down the Netflix series "Dead to Me" on a whim in a single almost-all-night marathon.
Summer Tasks
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| Moss on the roof. Ugh. It's likely $400 to get this cleaned up. Hopefully not more. |
Most of my summer days are devoted to work. Work in the yard, work around the house, and one day a week is devoted to working on preparing for the next school year. The lists of tasks (and expensive headaches--moss on the roof, mysterious leak in the supposedly waterproofed basement, running toilets, a dryer vent that needs cleaning) is long but I'm glad to say I'm making headway. I'm also staying on top of my writing. I finished editing my play Point of Impact and have submitted to two publishers. I will be submitting to Pioneer Drama as well. It will probably be at least two months before I know if any of them will consider publishing. Next up, is to finish editing the draft the novel I finished eleven years ago and then work on shopping it around to an agent.
Summer Pets
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| Coffee the cat, our part-time pet |
So we have a pretty sweet deal right now. We have this cat that isn't really ours. We are pretty sure he belongs to the people who live behind us because we've seen him coming from over there. He appears to be wearing a flea collar and seems well fed, but for some reason he's just started spending a good chunk of his day hanging around our front porch or back deck. I'll find him sleeping on a chair in the morning or hanging out on the front porch next to our big family room windows. He's shown interest in coming inside, but we can't allow that not least because Barbara is allergic to cats. But the boys love him. They've named him Coffee and they never miss a chance to sit with him and pet him. So we have this cat, but no cat food to buy and no vet bills, which is pretty great. But, I worry about how long this can last. What happens when the weather changes? Are the neighbors really taking care of him? I wish we could just adopt him but since #1) He may actually already belong to someone and #2) Bab's allergies, that's not likely. He really is a charming cat though and I have to admit I've fallen for him a bit despite not being a "cat person." For now it's he's a summer pet (like a summer romance) and we'll just have to see what happens when summer ends.
Summer Memories
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| Boys in the backyard pool |
Most important of all are these idyllic summer days that we get to experience only once. Time with my growing boys and lovely wife who only grows lovelier each day. I take it for granted a lot; indeed I find more often than not I'm cranky this summer and I can't imagine why. We are making wonderful memories. Here's one that stands out. A few weekends ago we welcomed the Sabbath on our deck, and as it got dark, the fireflies came out. I have to say I've never seen a firefly display like this one. The yard and trees were glittering with, maybe thousands of fireflies. Their lights flickering on and off created a truly magical light show. It reminded me of being in a stadium during a U2 concert watching camera flashes going off all through the stands. I tried to take a picture but they just don't show up on camera. You had to be there to see it. I highly recommend putting on some mosquito repellent and heading out after dark to catch the show. You'll be glad you did.
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| The closet approximation I can find to what you'll see in your backyard on any given summer night in Ohio. |
We are just over halfway through summer 2019. I'm going to make it my goal to fully appreciate all that this summer still has to offer.
