Truth be told, I don’t recall what this is actually a picture of – looks like something pink, but nothing before or after it in my phone camera roll links to anything in this particular shade of pink. A mystery photo, from a time when there aren’t many mysteries left in the world.
I love it for that.
Keep your mystery, pink blob. We need the mystique.
When I feel alone, yeah
I always wanna bring you near
‘Cause you bring a smile right here
You chase away my darkest hours
When we go walking, sunlight’s all around you
It’s all around you
An ideal upbeat song for this late-spring moment is brought to us by Madonna, who previews her forthcoming ‘Confessions II’ album with another banger called ‘Love Sensation’. Will this album be my entire personality for the summer of 2026? Most likely. Get up on the dance floor indeed.
And did I mention? You always bring me
Bring me back with your pure intention
Baby, come and get with me
There’s something that I gotta do
Baby, when you’re here with me
There’s nothing that we cannot do (There’s nothing that we cannot do)
‘Love Sensation’ is the best kind of let’s-get-lost love song – the perfect antidote to any lagging winter weariness, and a prime set-up for a summer of love. It’s excitement and anticipation and joy wrapped up in an easy beat – a beckoning to the dance-floor, and beyond. It fizzes with the sparkle of summer.
Love’s the reason why
It’s a drug that I can’t stop taking
Baby, let’s get high
Tripping up to the sky
I’m your love sensation, good vibration
Love sensation
I’m your love sensation, good vibration
Love sensation
There’s nothing that we cannot do, there’s nothing that we cannot do
There’s nothing that we cannot do, there’s nothing that we cannot do
This last week of spring has seen the garden ease into a more consistent style, as the ephemerals of early spring have mostly faded away in their entirety, as if they were never even here in the first place. It’s startling how quickly they go when the heat hits. And startling how quickly they depart from memory as well, especially as other plants come into their own. The shifts and gradations of a garden in June can be extreme, so I welcome the bit of consistency that regular heat and sun will bring.
We were lucky to have had some torrential downpours in the night, as the ground was in dire need of a deep watering. I set the scene, fortuitously fertilizing and watering a bit in the afternoon before the rain arrived, allowing water to soak in before the deluge so it wouldn’t just run off.
Successful gardening is largely about timing, and reading signs of what a plant wants, and when it needs it. There’s also a bit of luck involved, particularly when we have just so much control over the weather and environment of a garden. We can water all we want; during periods of drought though, it’s often never enough. We rely on the rain. And the sun. And while we can water, we have no way of adding sunlight to the mix – we are at the mercy of the sky and cloud cover.
Gardening is work. Hard work. Sometimes guess work. Always good work.
It’s been a number of years since I’ve grown phlox, but this variety looked so promising in the nursery that I picked up a pair and put them into the space where I recently dug out an unruly Rosa rugosa. It’s a perfect substitute – a strong pink for another strong pink – minus all the thorns and invasive tendencies. Phlox have often been marred my mildew in these humid summers, but this one is said to be more resistant to that annoying malady. We shall see…
This is a shorter variety – doesn’t require staking and isn’t in danger of falling over even with the wind and rain that is still a part of the season. Its color is potent, and the leaves are a dark green tinged with some burgundy to make for a handsome combination. Beauty is all around…
This will be the last weekly blog recap of spring, as next Sunday brings us officially into summer. How we managed to arrive here so quickly is beyond my limited understanding – spring has flown by in many ways, yet it seems to contain a lifetime, a multitude, an entire world in itself. Here’s the last weekly recap for the spring season 2026 – may it be as magical for you as it was for me.
Madonna’s back, crown intact.
The pinnacle of the peony parade.
The biggest failure of this website.
A gratuitously shirtless Harry Styles post.
Snippet of a conversation with Skip.
Dazzlers of the Day included Sydney James Harcourt, Shoshana Bean, and Charlie Overbey.
Is it a state of mind?
Or just a couple of words hidden within words?
Be.
Longing.
Such a devilish trick, a diabolical command, cloaked in a precious sentiment: be longing. As if the universe wants us all in a constant state of unfulfillment. Wanting and waiting, wishing and willing. Cruel, the way the world sometimes flings us into such a state.
Be Longing.
A state of perpetual yearning.
I don’t know who I’m supposed to be
It’s like I’m always fighting gravity
I hear something calling
But I feel myself falling down, down, down
I want to belong to someone
Someone who can take my heart home
A home where I don’t always feel alone
I wanna belong to someone
Someone who is always near me
Someone who really hears me
Someone who can save me from me
I wanna belong to someone
For so long, too long really, I’ve been seeking to belong to something, anything, as if that was the way to find meaning and connection in life. I thought that truly belonging would fill the empty ache I sometimes felt, even at the most full and happy moments of my life. There was always a disconnect, a remove, a distance from everyone and everything. I tried, like a chameleon, to become what I thought might belong, and more importantly what might be beloved. Another tricky word – the impossible instruction to be loved. If we could, we all would.
To be part of something real
To be half of a whole
To be truly connected
To surrender control
I need a family that’s gonna stand up for me
‘Cause for so long I’ve been lost and looking for the light
Is there someone out there
Waiting to be found?
Come and reach out for me
I’m tired of wandering around
I’ve been searching for something more
Something worth living for
At some point, and not too long ago, I finally realized that belonging didn’t mean that you mattered – it just meant that you were able to fit in – and what was ever so great about fitting in? My life has mostly been about doing my own thing, no matter how strange or weird or bizarre it seemed to others – and standing behind whatever I did because I loved it. Being apart, being different, being unlike anyone or anything around me – this was where I belonged. And there it was. Belonging. A simple longing to be.
I want a love
That can slow down time
That lasts forever
That never dies
“When kids are different, you just know. You can tell ~ adults can tell. And the quiet kids were never, well, you know, they just don’t fit in. And if you don’t fit in at the beginning, you never really fit in, ever, do you?”
Belonging.
It’s such a lovely word. A lovely sentiment.
Some of us spend our lifetimes searching for where we might belong.
Still, we search.
Still, we seek.
Still, we yearn to belong…
I find him in his reading chair
When he looks up and sees I’m there
He stands in wonder
He chokes up as he says my name
Explaining why he never came to me
I hug him
I tell him I’ve been busy too
So everything’s okay
He’s proud to see how strong I am
And then at last I hear him say
Spring enters its final weeks, and it’s already, and finally, feeling like summer. The seasons don’t always seem to know where they belong either. How could humans possibly find their place? Perhaps belonging has less to do with a place, and more to do with a feeling. Maybe the placement of belonging is a space we create in our minds – a land of shared sentiments, a world of deeper connection, a universe of love – all in our heads.
And when other joys have passed away
You will still be here to guide me
Tomorrow, just as true as yesterday
You will be here, you will stay
Always here beside me…
My dream-goal fantasy has already been originally described here. I don’t think it’s asking for too much. Just a space to successfully grow some citrus. What could be easier? There is so much available sun for the taking – seems a shame to let it all go to waste without the sweet perfume of citrus blooms as a by-product. I don’t even need the fruit – only the perfumed blossoms. That would be enough.
When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me
“Come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree”
“Don’t put your faith in love, my boy” my father said to me
“I fear you’ll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree”
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
A song then, for this fantasy moment – one by the first band I ever saw live, thanks to my Mom.
One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie
A girl so sweet that when she smiled, the stars rose in the sky
We passed that summer lost in love, beneath the lemon tree
The music of her laughter hid my father’s words from me
There’s a lesson in this song, a deeper one than should really be conveyed in a Saturday night post. Listen to the melody. Forget the words, give up on learning a lesson tonight.
One day she left without a word, she took away the sun
And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done
She left me for another, it’s a common tale but true
A sadder man, but wiser now, I sing these words to you
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Tired of the push and pull that has been this spring – never deciding whether it wants to snow or burn up – I sink to the floor, lean back against the bed, and silently wait for the summer. A shirt of lilac lace holds my hand – the jeweled necklace my leash. The window air-conditioning unit rumbles and moans – on its last legs, but I’ll try to get one or two more summer seasons out of it. This attic room reminds me of summer. The desk needs to be cleaned off and de-cluttered. I should probably vacuum too, instead of just waiting for the next set of guests to force the matter.
The fiftieth spring of a man’s life should be something special.
I find every spring a little special.
Rain makes for a damn good song.
We finally got some badly-needed wet stuff the other night – even with this questionable spring, we are somehow already dry as a bone. The rain arrived at night, which is best for everyone and everything. Good sleeping weather, good rejuvenating moment for the garden and lawn, good way of getting the precipitation out of the way in the hopes of a sunnier day.
When I woke the next morning, the garden felt refreshed. Drops still stuck to some of the plants, though they would burn off quickly enough. The sedum seen here (my new favorite foliage plant with its gray leaves with hints of burgundy) held onto its wet carriage. Rain storms don’t always stick around, even when you need the rain. Here are a few rain songs to help us make our peace with the gray days as they come.
ME: Turn out my car needs four new brakes. How many brakes does a car even have?
SKIP: Uhh, four.
ME: Oh my God, then that’s all of them!
Some people are just effortlessly cool.
Johnny Cash.
They exude the personality and heart to defiantly be exactly who they are without apology or excuse, and they live life on their own terms. Artistically it makes for a fascinating and combustible combination, but the people who love them do so because of their authentic grit and determination to stay true to themselves.
Add Charley Overbey to the collection of those who stand by their artistic visions, noble beliefs, and relentless quest to be unique and authentic in a world obsessed with making us all the same. Overbey easily earns this Dazzler of the Day honor for his body of musical work – he’s been performing since the 90’s, melding blues and country with some honky-tonk and punk into a genre all his own. His latest album ‘In Good Company’ has received raves (and is currently on repeat in my car because it’s the greatest driving music). Opening with the driving ‘Punk Rock Spy’ in which Overbey lays out his hard-won wisdom and acceptance of his winding lot in life, it sets the scene for a revelatory musical journey that finds the artist reckoning with all that has come before, and all that’s yet to arrive.
Of equal interest to those with a discerning fashion eye, Overbey is a designer of some magnificent hats over at Lone Hawk Hats – a self-taught milliner who crafts custom hats using vintage shells and environmentally-safe materials. They are true works of art – one-of-a-kind pieces from a time when quality and care came before quantity and mass-consumption. It aligns perfectly with Charlie’s vision of life – fashion and music going hand-in-hand in the search for authentic meaning and expression. (My friend Josie already has two of his hats, and she might just convince me to finally indulge in that teal green hat I’ve been seeking for the past decade.)
Check out his main website here and then head over to see his enthralling creations at Lone Hawk Hats.
Last year marked the tenth anniversary of our BroSox Adventures, so Skip and I went all out with an extra-long weekend documented here and here. This year we are getting back to basics – no extravagant theme or agenda, no months of planning – just me and my good friend taking in a Red Sox game (no matter how badly they might suck right now – the Fenway franks are still the best anywhere).
Today we are headed back to Boston for our 11th year of this cherished tradition. Check out the links below to see how far we’ve come.
The BroSox Adventures
BroSox Adventure 2015: Part One, Part Two and Part Three.
BroSox Adventure 2016: Preamble, Part One and Part Two.
BroSox Adventure 2017: Part One and Part Two.
BroSox Adventure 2019: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
BroSox Adventure 2020: Canceled, like everything that year, due to COVID.
BroSox Adventure 2021: Part One and Part Two.
BroSox Adventures 2024: Part One and Part Two.
BroSox Adventures 2025: Part One and Part Two.
…and by moment, I mean a three-hour meet-up with Suzie where we did just about everything but the intended task of learning mahjong. The lovely Qamaria Cafe in Latham provided the backdrop and the deliciousness seen here (hello again, honeycomb dessert with pistachio drizzle) for our fun get-together. Based on our initial examination of a small sampling of mahjong tiles, we realized we weren’t about to learn that while in the workforce, but we will slowly make a dent in acclimating ourselves to the game in preparation for when we exit the workforce. (Some sooner than others.) All in all, it was a good meeting.
Beloved Broadway star Shoshana Bean is fresh off a Tony win for her performance in ‘The Lost Boys’ – as Lucy Emerson, she provides the emotional core and light in a show that dwells largely in darkness. Bean has been a Broadway favorite for years, having made stunning turns in ‘Wicked‘, ‘Hairspray‘, ‘Funny Girl’, ‘Hells Kitchen’ and ‘Mr. Saturday Night’. Making full use of her vocal talents, Bean has also released several albums and EPs, including her latest work ‘Only Smoke’. Check out her website here for further evidence of her brilliance and this long-overdue Dazzler of the Day crowning.
