“What is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days.” — James Russell Lowell
Lowell had it exactly right.
There is a particular feeling to the first day of June that nothing else in the year quite matches. Something shifts, in the air, in the pace of things. The pool opens. The lake is warm enough to get into. The days are long and golden and they seem to stretch on forever. Summer, the real summer, has arrived.
As you know, I am not a fan of the longer days. I am a woman who loves the dark and the quiet and the early evening, and June tries my patience a little by staying light until nearly nine. But then the sunset arrives and the back of the house lights up in shades of deep orange and pink. The whole sky glows and it looks like a painting. A photograph could never do it justice. I stand at the window and marvel every single time.
June feels like the beginning of something. And it is, the beginning of a few months of letting go and having a little summer fun.
What I Am Looking Forward To in June
The pool and the lake. There is something about the club pool opening that still feels like a childhood gift. Bill and I treat summer a bit like we did when we were children. Afternoons at the pool, days on the lake, paddle boards on the water, long bike rides that sometimes go nowhere and other times go right for a treat. Summer is not just for kids. If the water is warm enough to get into, we are getting in. If not we sit on the side and soak up the warmth of the sun.
Blueberry season. This is one of my great June joys. Local blueberries picked right at the farm, fat and sweet and nothing like the ones you get in January, are one of the best things about living in the South. I eat them by the handful. I bake with them. I put them in everything. For the few weeks they are at their peak I treat them like the seasonal treasure they are, because that is exactly what they are.
The sunsets. June sunsets in North Carolina are something magical. The back of the house catches the last of the light and for about twenty minutes every evening the whole room glows orange and pink. I never tire of it. It is one of those small daily gifts that costs nothing and gives everything, and if you know me at all you know those are my favorite kind.
The start of barbecue season. June means the grill is out and Bill is in charge of it, the seafood, the steaks, whatever he decides to attempt. I handle everything else. The neighbors are outside, something good is cooking and the smell of it drifts across the golf course in the early evening. There is nothing more summer than that, unless you count baseball and apple pie.
On The Blog This Month
June is a full month on the blog and I am excited about what is coming.
I am also launching something I have been working on for a while. The Menopause Saga: Nobody Sent the Handout. Six posts about perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause, the information gap, the misinformation, the things nobody told us and the things I wish someone had handed me years ago. The first post goes up June 2 and I would love for you to read it and share it with every woman in your life.
I am sharing something I have been working on for a while. Classic Style After 50: How I Dress and Why It Took Me This Long to Figure It Out. It is part of a new seasonal style series and I think it will resonate with a lot of you. Style at this stage of life is not about following trends. It is about finally knowing yourself well enough to dress like it. I hope you will read it and feel seen.
Also this month, a summer salad, a blueberry dessert and a recipe to help you celebrate the Fourth of July in the most delicious way possible. Come hungry.
And if you have not yet read Dear Woman Who Has Been Last on Her Own List, please do. It is a letter I wrote for all of you.
What I Am Wearing This Month
I am a dress person through and through. That does not change with the season, only the fabric. June means linen and lighter florals, something that feels good and does not stick to you by noon. A sun hat for the pool and the lake and a baseball cap for walks and working outside. Flat sandals or bare feet wherever I can get away with it. My June wardrobe is easy, which is exactly how June should feel.
What To Cook This Month
On my June table. Summer Berry Salad with Grilled Peaches, Goat Cheese and Honey Balsamic Dressing. This is the salad I make all summer long and the grilled peaches are the thing. Do not skip them. And Chilled Gazpacho, the soup that was made for June, cold and bright and full of summer tomatoes and cucumber. For dessert. Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Drizzle, simple and perfect and exactly right for a June afternoon with a cup of tea or a glass of something cold. At the end of the month, to celebrate the Fourth of July. Something sweet for every picnic table in America.
Links will be added as each recipe publishes through the month.
What To Read This Month
On my June reading list, two books and a memory.
The memory first. When I was young my siblings and I would walk to the library once a week in the summer, and return home laden with as many books as we could carry. I would spend days, and sometimes nights, reading under the covers with a flashlight, completely lost in whatever world I had brought home that week. Summer reading felt different from school reading. It was just for fun and that made all the difference. I have never stopped reading that way. Summer is still the season when I read the most and find the most joy in it.
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. If you have not read it I promise you will love it. The story of a woman looking back on her life, love, family, art, the English countryside and the sea. It is the perfect summer novel and if you do not feel like reading it, listen to it on audio. Either way it will stay with you.
And for something lighter, Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard, an old favorite. An American woman falls in love with a Frenchman and finds herself living in Paris, learning to cook, learning the language and discovering a new way of life. It is warm and funny and full of beautiful food and recipes. The perfect book for a long afternoon by the pool, by the lake or curled up on a rainy day.
One for the heart. One for the wanderer. You cannot go wrong with either.
A Small Joy
The moment you realize that summer has actually arrived. Not the calendar date, not the official first day, but the actual moment. For us it is usually a random afternoon when Bill and I look at each other and decide to play hooky. The paddle boards go in the water and we spend the day at the lake, laughing with friends, eating takeout from the snack bar and sipping cocktails. We are not children anymore but that does not matter one bit.
What does June mean to you? Are you a pool person or a lake person? A cabin in the mountains or a cottage on the shore? Tell me in the comments, and while you are there, share one of your favorite summer memories from childhood. I would love to hear it.
Have a wonderful day friends.
If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you shared it. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram or Xor Pinterest. I would love to have you along.
You might also enjoy:
Reinventing Your Morning — How the First Hour Changes Everything
Classic Style After 50, How I Dress and Why It Took Me This Long to Figure It Out
Summer Berry Salad with Grilled Peaches and Honey Balsamic Dressing
On My Radar
June is my favorite month of the summer. When I was a teenager, we spent our summers at the lake. Back then, most of homes were cottages. Real estate was reasonable and families with kids could afford a second home. So, there were lots of kids. I have 2 younger brothers and our dad would allow each of us 1 tank of gas a day for waterskiing. He figured out that we would each ski about 70 miles a day! One day we decided to get our friends and put on a water show. One boat pulled 13 skiers, another boat pulled a parachute skier, my brothers skied barefoot, and another made a 3 person pyramid. People cleared the lake of boats for us and stood on their docks watching. We had so much fun!
Ellen, this sounds like a wonderful summer. I remember when we would visit Devils Lake in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Dells in the summer they had big water ski shows, your memory took me right back to sitting on the shore watching. How fun, and as I said yesterday to have such a magical and idyllic childhood and even more wonderful to live on the same lake now with your parents just a few doors away. I can only imagine the memories that you have as you look out each day at your beautiful lake.
That sounds almost like my family background. I was lucky enough to have several relatives that had homes scattered around the lake and I spent every summer there until I left for college. The waterskiing usually took place at the crack of dawn when the water was like glass. It was a magical time.