The days this week have been mostly sunny and it's been so nice to sit on the front deck or back patio and feel the warmth soak into my very bones.
This past weekend we went to the Salem Saturday Market for the first time since moving back. It brought back a lot of memories of years past, of little T always wanting shaved ice, of flowers and farms, of so many good things. Sigh.
The photos:
Also last weekend, we took a long drive down south to a couple of lakes that we had only been to once before, years ago. They were beautiful. We found a short trail through the woods that took us to the edge of one of the lakes and spent some time exploring the shoreline. Most of the trails we loved to hike between here and Detroit were destroyed in last summer's wildfires and we are having (getting) to find new areas to explore.
We had a nice Easter dinner with my sister-in-law and her family. I made Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake. So good. All the lemon things, please.
Last evening I went with my husband to one of his fishing spots just as the sun was starting to lower in the sky but everything was bright and golden still. I went off, camera in hand, to see what was around each turn in the clearing or behind the next stand of trees. I crouched low and gazed into the pond water, observing soft, swaying green pillars of algae reaching for the surface (which made me think of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax building). I watched the concentric circles made by the fishing bobber radiate outward until they bumped up along the shore.
On the far side of the trees down low in the bramble were several Spotted Towhees. I love these birds. We have a couple that live in our back yard, and they spend a lot of their day scratching around under the shrubs but also sitting on the arbor and flinging themselves into our big kitchen window. We've also seen them sitting on my husband's car's side mirror and jumping at the window. I don't love seeing/hearing them do that, it's rather alarming, but their daily presence is quite cheering.
It was wonderful to take slow and steady steps, melting into the landscape under the warm evening sun, reflections sparkling in my eyes, birdsong filling my ears and feeding my soul.
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slow notes:
- This, by Kerri ní Dochartaigh.
- This, beautiful film by Lynn Tomlinson.
- This, about Spotted Towhees.
- Can't wait to hear and see more about this. Ancient Egypt is endlessly fascinating.
- This, about forests, folktales, and imagination.