The Tastes of Summer

When I was a child the tastes of summer were Popsicles, frozen Milk Shake Bars, Green Rivers, and lemonade. The tastes only changed when I visited Spokane or Orofino where grandmothers and family members had gardens. Then it was corn on the cob, green beans cooked in bacon, beets, fresh carrots, dill for pickles,and ice cream from the creamery.

As an adult I have acquired new tastes of summer, especially since we began gardening. Summer tastes like fresh picked green beans, a tomato off the vine, the first rhubarb in a pie, and steamed Swiss chard.

 It also tastes like fresh cherries, peaches, and apricots picked from the orchards close by.

Summer squash sauted in butter, radishes eaten cold, and cucumbers off the vine also say summer. I love this time of year and look forward to  harvest as the fruits of our labor continue to flourish.

Homegrown Tomatoes

 

 

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” Lewis Grizzard

Whether I am photographing their richness, smelling their vines, studying them in my hand, or tasting my first pear tomato ....nothing beats homegrown tomatoes from a summer garden.

Geography 2: A Poem for This Social Studies Teacher

  I will return to teaching social studies in the fall. I love reviewing geography, Washington State history, ancient history, and current events. I was looking for ways today to combine literature and history. I was reminded of this lovely poem.

Geography 2
The land wrote itself before any
came to chart it: continents broke
and reassembled;two masses crashed
and threw a mountain range, a border
waiting for customs posts; glaciers cut
narrow valleys, close and separate,
each shuttered cautiously from its neighbour.
A coast curved itself into a haven
for shipping; a hill kept watch
on the landscape till the fort was built,
A river spread rich gentle living
over these fields; elsewhere, the want
of water made the contours stand out
like starving bones.

And when it was all ready
they came, at last, to be masters
of it all; to take up the lives
mapped out for them.

Sheenagh Pugh

Variations on a Bouquet

Practicing new settings on the camera works very well with bouquets of flowers. I tried different lighting with the first set of photos here.

Next I tried different angles,zooms, and position with the bigger bouquet.

 I tried to keep the big lily in every shot. How can you miss with flowers?

Faith and Hope

This is the time of year I have grown to dread. The air is hot and dry. The temperatures are climbing. The wells in our community have had some difficulty. Our gardens are suffering.I have faith that all will be back to normal soon and we can give our trees some water.

 Can you believe some leaves have already turned?

I have hope that the weather will also cooperate so our beautiful flowers and vegetables and fruit trees won't suffer too much. I am in the harvest perserving mode, not the leaf raking mode!!

Capturing Summer One Image at a TIme

 What do I want to take home from my summer vacation?  Time.
The wonderful luxury of being at rest.  The days
when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life
on track and let life simply wander.  The days when you
stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are.
Summer is my period of grace.

Ellen Goodman