late june

The rain and the clouds and the cool have melted away, and at last late June has come, as late June is meant to come, a time of rolling days and enveloping nights, a time of evenings, evenings with skies of a soft taffy beauty like no other time in the year, each like no other before and no other again. Warm. Comfortable. Immortal. Fleeting.

I walked down streets this evening whose trees, houses, and lamp-posts raised me. I walked past human beings who I had never seen before and would probably never see again, whose houses I had passed hundreds, maybe thousands of times. I saw familiar cracks in the pavement.

Tangibly, luxuriously, the tight rigidity of Michigan ice and office AC and books and plans and fears and concentration softened, melted, and fell like warm sweat out of every pore, vanishing into the close atmosphere. Jungle sounds, cinematic, out-of-place, emerged from the darkening edges of my path.

Liturgy, ritual, is a framework for humanity, a coming-back in order to see ourselves and our lives in perspective. It connects us to one another and to our own past. It humanizes us. The trees were a little taller, really they were. The perfect little house on the corner with its lovely swimming pool still made me sad somehow, as it stood serene in the sinking light. I felt the changes of my past year, at last, in a calmer way. I saw them, as if I had discovered a photograph of a statue before I had chipped away at it, and could at last compare what had been to what was. More than seeing clearly what changes had been made, I saw all that was still the same. I breathed. The air was sweet with flowers.

november morning fog

The other night when I got off work a thin fog had spread through the darkness. Saucers of light grew downwards from the street lamps, the thick air illuminated. For a second I thought it was snowing.

I got up late the next morning, but even so when I climbed the stairs and looked out the kitchen window the world was still hazy and white.

Fog is gorgeous.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was wonderful, I have so much to be thankful for and this weekend reminded me of that in so many ways.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and leftover-turkey sandwiches.

Stacey

activities for rainy days

 
If you never have before, at least once in your life you need to go for a walk in the rain. And I don't mean a sprinkle. And I don't mean with an umbrella. I mean when it starts pouring down rain and everyone runs for their houses or their cars and you just look around and say, "Know what? This is fun." And there you stay.

It's kind of a different world all of a sudden when it starts to really rain. Because, even if it's the middle of the day, there is no one to be seen. Because no one likes the feeling of getting poured on, right? Well, yeah. Unless you want to. If you just decide "I'm getting totally wet, and I'm okay with that," then it becomes really wonderful really quickly.

I was on a walk today when it started to pour. I started the dash for home, but as the rain poured down and soaked my hair and my clothes and sent streams of water down my nose, I changed my mind. I got over the judgmental looks of the people sitting in their cars in the parking lot, got over the fact that I was destroying my new boots, and just walked. And ran. And climbed a tree. And got thoroughly drenched.

And I would recommend this Saturday afternoon activity to anyone.

when it's still quiet

Only a handful of days left until school started up again, slipping away at an outrageous pace. I woke up before the sun and slipped outside, blanket and book in hand.

I walked for awhile, and when the sun came over the horizon i spread out a blanket, flopped down on it, and watched the sun through the rosebushes. It was chilly, and I pulled another blanket over me and read for a little while. I was tired, but it was such a nice morning.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep. But my fingers and toes were very cold, and the sun now peeked through the branches of the trees, and cast golden lines across the grass.

I will miss the summer.

the windy city

Last week was college visits. We went to several midwestern colleges on the stretch between here and Michigan (Wheaton, Northwestern, Concordia University Mequon, and Hillsdale.)

It was the absolute perfect week. The weather finally got a little cooler, and it was sunny most days. Northwestern's campus was amazing. It was really interesting to visit the colleges we did in such rapid succession, because the differences really stood out. 

And, Chicago...

It should be noted that as we were walking out of one of the buildings, the "PEARE" part of this sign was blocked by an awning, and I thought it said "SHAKES". It should also be noted how crushingly disappointed I was when the whole sign came into view.

Bye kids.

Stacey