She Seeks Seashells

I head to the beach after work. 

I bring a book, but I don't always read it.

I wear a bathing suit, or I don't. 

MFD is there too, fishing, or he's not.

I have a mesh bag to collect my treasures, and if I forget it, I use whatever else I have. 

I'm pleased when low tide approaches or arrives between the hours of five and nine.

I wander up and down the tide line, slowly.

Shell seeking.

One of my Gamma's favorite books was The Shell Seekers. 

I learned to be a shell seeker from her, and my mom, and my aunts. 

Seeking specific shells. 

The kind I like.

Every shell seeker has their favorites.

But also some smooth, lots of times translucent rocks worn so soft from tumbling in the ocean.

Who needs a rock tumbler? 

Use the Atlantic.

And sea glass, a major prize.

When I find a lot of pieces I put them all in my palm and take a picture to share with my niece. 

A blissfully blank mind.

Only the sound of waves, and laughing gulls, and snippets of conversations that don't concern me.

The light washes everything honey gold as the sun goes down. 

Alone.

Peace. 

Happy birthday to my friends Mr. Chris and Dawn today!

Recommendations - August 2019

If you wouldn't do it or say it in person, don't do it or say it online. Some of you who were raised without the internet have forgotten how to be real people with conflict resolution skills and it shows. You need to remember that and teach younger people who don't know a world without the internet. Address problems with people directly and don't put on some persona that is not you. It's weird.

Always have frozen spaghetti sauce in the freezer. I probably should have shared my recipe before now, but I will next time I make it. If you want it in the meantime, let me know. It's veggie meat sauce and I triple it and share with family too.

Share quick and easy meals or good lunch ideas with people. If you make something and it's easy/healthy-ish/cheap-ish, you need share that shit on any platform you have - share a link on facebook, post it on Instagram, include it in your blog, tell your friends and fam in person or via text, hire a plane and write it in the sky. People are out there struggling for lunch and meal ideas. It's the right thing to do.

Wear whatever you want. If you like it and it's comfortable and it makes you happy, wear it. You are under no obligation to be a fashionista or to dress only in neutrals or to avoid patterns or styles based on some bullshit society tells you about what your body type is or what people your age should wear. Your body type wears whatever it wants and aging does not require you to fade quietly into the ether. Fuck all that.

Breathe through it. Whatever it is. Deep breaths, acknowledge that you’re feeling some kind of way, and that it will pass. And as you concentrate on breathing deeply, it does. 

Anything you're recommending this month?

Summer...it's complicated

We're in the thick of it now, and as it is every year, my relationship with summer is complicated.
There are things I love about summer, like

-long days filled with light that manage to simultaneously feel timeless and fleeting, so you are conscious of marinating in them and appreciating them
-better commutes without school in session
-ocean water warm enough to swim in
-the smell of sunscreen, summer rain, freshly mown grass
-no need for fleeces or coats

-ocean breezes
-spending a lot of time outside
-fresh fruits & vegetables
-everything feels possible and everything feels brighter
-being one with the sand

-shoes are optional
-dresses without leggings under or cardigans over=one stop dressing
-stepping into air conditioning and feeling instantly cool
-riots of colorful flowers everywhere

But there are things I really don't like about summer, like
-humidity

-excessive heat
-too much sun. Sun is great but too much sun is not great
-city stench sets in: hot trash, BO, and ripe pee
-people whining about their allergies like no one else has ever had them and certainly no one has had them this bad as they are experiencing
-first light is EARLY in the summer, like before 5 in the beginning of the season. spring and fall sunrises are much easier to be up for
-pugs and heat don't mix

-trains with struggling AC (like today’s)
-ants
-bugs in general
-must remain on high alert for ticks
-much more leg shaving than in other seasons
-weeds grow like, you know...weeds
-people wanting recommendations for beach reads...any book you read on a beach is a beach read, Susan
-beach body talk...any body that is on a beach is a beach body, stop ruining people’s enjoyment of ice cream
-driving at the shore
-hot leather car seats

-photos of temperatures in cars
-other people's blaring beach music
-people acting like s'mores are new

What are your summer likes/dislikes?

The little things have been saving my life

When the big things are overwhelming and hard or just too much all together, it really is the little things that save our asses and make each day bearable.

For me, that's been...

Pizza, Key Lime or Grapefruit La Croix, plums, and FroYo as beach eats

Super easy food because I'm already in summer cooking mode which in two months will be tomato sandwiches and that's it (I'll move on from food now, I promise)

The cool, silent aisles of the library

Standing with my feet in the ocean, eyes on the horizon

Ridiculous red sunglasses + blu red LipSense

One million puppy kisses from Bruce Springsteen

Sleeping in until 7:30 (yes, instead of sunrises a lot of weekends)

Listening to what my body needs, not sacrificing that for what I want to do (see immediately preceding point)

Mae's face in pockets

Working from home at least one day a week

Micellar water for the lazy days

Laughing every time I pick up dog poop thanks to these poop bags from Debbie

Flowers

What's been saving your life lately?