Collision

I've said this before but I must say it again: September is a lovely, perfectly crafted mash-up of summer and fall. Let's look at the indisputable proof, shall we? 

My friend Halcyon and I, along with Miss Mabel the puppy, went marching up a small-ish mountain Wednesday morning and saw all kinds of green in the trees and blue in the sky, which means summer is not lying down quite yet, at least without a fight. Besides, it was hot as all get out, and I mean hot. 

But then, all month long, every time I pop into a grocery store, it's nothing but mums, mums, mums, which I think must be the floral ambassador of fall. I always want to bring dozens home, but then I remember the territorial squirrels who roam our yard, and that once I planted ornamental kale in the fall and that the squirrels took umbrage to this and ripped them right out of the flower bed. Now I feel like any and all fall planting is jinxed and so I've resigned myself to admiring them whenever we're out of bread or milk.

And one more thing: On Friday I spent an hour or so reading in the front yard, which is such a summery thing to do, but I was drinking iced pumpkin spice tea at the very same time, and anything involving pumpkin is so  perfectly autumnal, isn't it? Also, you can see some of the leaves that have slipped from the trees already (fall!), but hey! I drank that pumpkin tea with a twisty straw (summer!) AND my feet were delightfully bare (summer again!) but my book is about [nice, friendly, not scary] witches (fall!!) 

Anne of Green Gables says, "I'm so glad I live in world where there are Octobers" and I wholeheartedly agree, but I feel the same way about Septembers, too :)

On the banks of Lake Wenatchee

We tumbled home Sunday afternoon from our last official fling with summer. This beea-uuuu-tiful weather we've been living under is supposed to last through the month, and we'll continue to enjoy it (I took a nap in the grass yesterday!), but the weekend marked our final big adventure in this season of sun.

And speaking of sunshine & blue skies, the likes of which really have spoiled us rotten since June, on this camping expedition, we had none. Wait, that's not quite true. We had a dry-ish reprieve Saturday night, and the sun burst forth Sunday morning just as we were packing up to leave, but until then, it was mostly wet and damp and gray. I'm sorry to report that besides the rain, there was also a brief but thunderous temper that passed through Friday night as we were sloshing around setting up the tent, and the culprit was not the 4-1/2 year old niece-of-our-hearts. I love living in a tent, but I do not like to do it while I'm soaking wet, thank you very much.

But! There are some very cozy things about camping in the rain, and when one is given a very kind and gentle reminder that one is not in fact 4-1/2 and should probably try and recover, they are easy to see! Drinking cocoa while playing Uno & Go Fish in the pop-up trailer, for one, and using the weather as an excuse to spend a few hours in Leavenworth, browsing through toy stores and and eating blackberry ice cream cones, for another. And really, it doesn't get much cozier than being snug as a bug in a rug under a pile of sleeping bags and blankets while you read yourself to sleep as raindrops patter on the tent.

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, bring your own sunshine." Anthony J. D'Angelo

Same old song and dance

And by that I mean pictures of flora & fauna, a sunset, and melt-our-hearts wonder nephew #3. I'm nothing if not consistent :)

In June I remember sharing pictures that, for me, were a perfect representation of what the month had been, and that's just how I feel about these next five for August:

I love when the sky erupts into something so spectacular it's hard to believe it's real. That happens a lot around here, you know :)

And now, hold onto your hats:

Uncle Ryan was on snuggle duty this particular afternoon; he's very good at it. G doesn't quite know it yet, but in the uncle department - of which there are 4 - he's made out like a bandit :)

A sweet collection

These last pictures are just a snippet of what went on between sliding down water slides and traipsing through trees and splashing along river beds, and they are some of my favorites.