Wanderlust can sometimes be a brick wall.

Such a sentiment finds a more metaphorical embodiment this weekend when I begin recounting a recent weekend in Boston with my friend Chris. With a ruined birthday surprise and rainfall that simply wouldn’t end, we brought the drama like only we could. Come back for that in a few days… 

These magical water droplets on the tips of the papyrus plant could only be possible on the morning after a soaking rain. When caught in the sun, in that brief window before they burn away, they reveal the residual prettiness that a storm leaves in its wake. A miniature version of a rainbow, a reminder and a covenant in one. 

This is a papyrus plant that I found in a local nursery, and I expected it to be much larger than it is. I’ve had tremendous success growing these in previous years – as soon as their roots fill the pot they shoot forth large umbrels into the sky, growing so high that they eventually start falling over by the end of the season, only by then I don’t mind. This time around it appears I happened upon a super-dwarf version, as these will be lucky to top out at two feet. At first it was a little disappointing, but I’ve since come to appreciate their smaller and more delicate stature. It’s a better of perspective and appreciation. 

Here we go again. Another robin’s nest has appeared in the backyard, this time in the Wolf’s Eye dogwood tree outside out bedroom window. It’s the same space that ended in likely tragedy last year, and I don’t know how much more the heart can take. Nature doesn’t give up as easily as I do, however, and maybe these eggs will hatch, and the youngsters survive to carry on a legacy. 

The world keeps trying, and in that perseverance is a goal and a lesson. It is at these times that I force myself to quiet the nagging worry and doubt that is my starting point, and give in to hope and possibility, and the love that will sustain such a dangerous enterprise as raising a baby bird. We cannot protect those we love from everything, but if we work hard at a it, and we keep working at it, maybe we stand a chance – the same chance these pretty blue eggs have of one day crumbling into the earth, giving sustenance to some wayward worm, and returning into the mouth of a noble creature in flight – one that pecked through the sky-hued shell of its first home to enter the word and defy all the risks of a life lived on the breeze. 

Our wet and stormy summer continues, as evidenced by these pictures of the first privet bloom of the season, defying the rain and wind and thunder and throwing out these creamy blossoms. The fragrance, alas, was lost to the water, and I could only barely detect it when I leaned in close and took a deep inhalation. 

Signifier of high summer, riding sweetly on the slightest breeze, privet was ubiquitously used for hedging throughout New England, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the happy memories of vacations and lazy summer days, full of heat and sun and carefree bike rides. Summer is kindled differently for everyone, and mine has always come with the perfume of privet. 

Fresh from a rainy weekend in Boston, I’m drenched in happy and somber memories as Chris and I grappled with getting older, while celebrating our first reunion since isolating in the time of COVID. More on that that to come, for now let’s ease on into the work week with a day off and the requisite Monday morning recap. 

Me against Madonna.

More Madonna, for inspiration. 

Lavender going pink.

Closing out Pride Month with this sweet video.

A cardinal summer. 

Summer thyme.

A memory of Andy’s roses.

Honey bunny.

Being blue and beautiful. 

Summer song: Imitation of Life.

Summer solitude: a poem.

Floral fireworks for a low-key 4th of July. 

Dazzlers of the Day included Sha’Carri Richardson (who should totally be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games because it’s 2021), Kyle Dean Massey, Sunisa Lee, and Paula ‘Precious’ Bell.

“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.” – Albert Camus