Sign Says

I have a sign hanging in my kitchen reading: SIMPLIFY. It's one of the few things hanging in this house, and by way of commenting on our decor a friend of mine likes to joke that it should read Simplified instead.

It's not particularly pretty, and it's certainly not original, but for me it's less of a statement in design than it is a convenient reminder. To take a step back. To focus. To prioritize.

I've been looking at this sign a lot lately.

Remember  this past Spring? I was practically aflutter with plans for the summer season. Nothing too grand - some gardening, some jam, a little paddling around in our kayaks. And how much of that came to fruition? Very little.

There were the weddings of course. And pink dress notwithstanding (You know I love you H), they were WONDERFUL. But the rest of it? Fallen by the wayside for no other reason than I was busy.  Just busy. The kind of busy that only begets busy. Busy doing all of those things that we convince ourselves need doing before we can go do the things that we would be doing already if we weren't so darn busy.

Now, as far as problems go this one doesn't merit much complaint. And I won't paint this too dark a picture. Compared to a year or so ago things look much rosier. And generally speaking, they continue to look up. But all of this busy? I wonder.

Clouds

I met a woman this summer who's family has been vacationing for generations in a town close by that I've always considered being half way between here and the middle of nowhere. When I asked her what could possibly bring her back year after year to a property with no lake access, no ocean view, no grand mountain vistas, she smiled and told me that "it was The Best Place to watch the clouds".

I'm trying to remember to watch the clouds more often.

Well On Our Way

Spring can be hit or miss in New Hampshire and I think most of us would agree that this one has been mostly miss. Fields flooded, farmers worried, and if you took your car down our dirt road earlier this season you were likely to sink out of sight. After almost two weeks solid of rainy weather it's a wonder we didn't all just declare the whole weekend a holiday (and yesterday too!) just to sit and soak up some well deserved sunshine.

But now it's here (can you see my fingers crossed?). The cows are pastured, the gardens are planted, the switch has been flicked and we are well on our way to a beautiful New England summer.

And I am sooo looking forward to everything this summer will bring!

There will be fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries. Jams and jellies and pickles. Hot days on the hay-wagon, and thunderstorms watched from the front porch. There will be bike rides and boat rides and ice cream. There will be pots pots pots. And weddings! There will be the weddings of some of the most wonderful people I know.

What can I say? I'm tickled! And I can barely hold my excitement.

Can you?