Traditionally, summer is a time of travels, parties, and sunny adventures.
This year, that all took place mostly in our minds, and the power of imagination is what kept us going. A regular schedule of mindful meditation made it mostly manageable. Largely, though, this summer was spent in suspension: waiting for the pool to be opened, waiting for a sense of normalcy to return, waiting for a pandemic to end. Only one of those wishes came true.
Summer was usually the time we got back together with everyone, gathering about the pool and grill, inviting friends for dinner and weekends and impromptu get-togethers when the day looked to be especially brilliant. All of that was absent this season, and there was something very sad and doleful about it. Staying safe meant staying socially isolated since March. For the introvert in me, it wasn’t a difficult lift, but it turns out I am much more social than I realized, and the continued isolation took more of a toll than expected. We made do with social media networks, even as politics made them more miserable than usual.
The most notable things that set this summer apart was how quiet it felt. There are a couple of songs that will be featured in later parts of this recap – for now, let’s inhabit that silence, embrace the quiet, and lean into the stillness. Here’s what happened in the first part of the summer…
A starry beginning to the season of the sun.
A summer song that already feels so far away.
The hydrangeas didn’t seem to mind that the rest of the world was falling down around them.
Ending perfectionism without violence.
Star booty under construction.
The saddest look of the summer.
Verdant stillness, dreams of green.
The new Rufus Wainwright album is stellar.
A wintry-themed Project of the Past.
Bringing the sweetness inside.
In a world of racists, be an antiracist.
