by jphilo | Aug 19, 2014 | Out and About
The man of steel and I are back from a weekend at our rellies’ cabin on Spirit Lake. Here are the top ten delights we enjoyed, not counting the weather, which was perfect.
10. Reading a book on the porch while the water lapped on the shoreline.
9. Watching a young woman named Abby sing with the worship team during church on Sunday. She worships with her whole heart and makes me long to be more like her.
8. Lounging around with no make up, bare feet, and a swim suit augmented with a pair of my cousin’s shorts all weekend.
7. Paddling a kayak with a paddle so light my muscles didn’t ache after our ride.
6. A boat ride on a smooth-as-glass lake while the sun streamed down.
5. Eating hobo pies cooked over the fire. Why don’t hamburger and veggies taste this good at home?
4. Watching the sun set the waves to sparkling.
3. No internet access means a real vacation…except when three people over the age of 50 can’t remember a few cribbage rules and wish they could look them up.
2. Time spent catching up with delightful people we’ve known for decades.
1. An Iowa lakeside view out one side of the cabin and an Iowa cornfield view out the other.
What do you like best about lake weekends? Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Aug 5, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. One of your earliest memories is of the pool party birthday when you turned five. Granted, it was only a kiddie pool with six inches of water in the side yard. But it was great fun. And as the photographs of the event show, you look pretty good in your swimsuit.
9. There’s never any homework to finish before the party begins.
8. In the same vein, parties never have to break up early because there’s school tomorrow.
7. Sometimes, your birthday coincides with your vacation, and you get to celebrate in far away places like Alaska, Idaho, Washington state, or your aunt and uncle’s farm in southwest Minnesota.
6. Even though you live in a four season state like Iowa, birthday meals can be eaten outside.
5. There’s no need for fancy decorations on a cake when everywhere you look, God has decorated July with flowers.
4. Fresh-picked sweet corn is on the birthday meal menu.
3. Because July is smack dab in the middle of peach season, your birthday cake can be fresh peach pie.
2. You can use the coffee house gift card at your favorite coffee shop to order not just coffee, but iced coffee…and then sit at a table outside to enjoy it.
1. Your sweetheart can ride a motorcycle to the store to purchase the most hilarious Modern Family gift bag ever in which to place the coffee house gift card he bought. Then he can hide both bag and card under his shirt to sneak it through the kitchen where you are cooking sweet corn for supper. That’s a Phil Dunphy moment if there ever was one.
by jphilo | Aug 15, 2013 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- The premier of season 5 of Parenthood, my annual physical, and mammogram are all scheduled for September 26. I’m really looking forward to one of the three.
- The sound of a cardinal singing in a tall tree tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes this morning. What a beautiful way to start the day.
- Favorite summer meal I could eat night after night? BLTs and sweet corn. Yours?
by jphilo | Jun 18, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Summer feels like a series of weeks when playing hookey from school is perfectly okay.
9. Walking by the city swimming pool in the morning and smelling the chlorine.
8. Road trips.
7. Leaving coats and jackets in the closet for weeks on end.
6. Watermelon.
5. Sleeping with the windows open at night.
4. Waking up early to the eastern sky already lightening with the dawn.
3. Birdsong.
2. Hanging clothes on the line which allows me to a) save electricity, b) feel virtuous about doing it, c) make the laundry smell wonderful, and d) work on my tan all at the same time.
1. Enjoy the fruits (see strawberry photo above) and veggies that come in our weekly CSA share on Tuesdays.
What do you like best about summer? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jun 19, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
Yesterday, the weather was hot, steamy, and breezy – our first 90+ day of the year. The sweltering and sweating that accompanied the temperatures revealed these top ten benefits to hot weather:
10. Days like yesterday take the bloom off the I-want-to-live-on-a-tropical-island fantasy.
9. Days like yesterday make winter more attractive.
8. Hot weather motivates me to get up early to walk, and then I feel ahead of schedule all day long.
7. Hot afternoons means either grilling or cold supper to keep the heat out of the kitchen. Yum to both prospects!
6. I have less appetite on hot days. This phenomenon has not yet translated into consistent summer weight loss, but hope springs eternal in this human’s hips.
5. The heat make a person grateful for air conditioning
4. Hot days are a convenient excuse for staying inside to write instead of doing yard work.
3. This is sweet corn weather. Can’t you just taste it?
2. Ditto for tomato weather.
1. Days like yesterday give grandmas-in-training an excuse to take the neighbor kids to the pool and soak up the sunshine together.
What are benefits do 90+ days hold for you? Leave a comment.
