A few rainy days, the 6 a.m. world, a novel worth staying up for, and a filmmaker you need to know
The rain came. It came for a few days in a row, and there is something about rain after months of dry, scorching heat that feels like an exhale you have been holding since June. The leaves on the trees had been turning brown, not because fall was arriving but because they were simply exhausted. I understood the feeling completely.
This summer has been relentless. It has been the kind of hot where the air itself feels offensive, where stepping outside means negotiating with the sun and usually losing. Even the pool, which is supposed to be the great relief, has not been much of one. Getting from your chair to the water requires a small act of bravery, a sprint across pavement that could fry an egg, and then once you finally lower yourself in, you become essentially a hippopotamus. Entire body submerged. Just the head above the waterline. Head, of course, covered in a hat and sunglasses. This is the glamour of summer in the South.
But then the rain came, and with it the promise of August. One more month. One more month until the “ber” months, September, October, November, December, which are, if you ask me, the months when life remembers what it is supposed to feel like. I am ready. More than ready.
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The 6 a.m. World
A few weeks ago I mentioned I had started taking long morning walks, and I am still doing it, still heading out before the daylight. This morning it was me and the bats on their last loop before bed, and the dawn chorus just starting to fill in, birds calling back and forth as if comparing notes on the night. At six in the morning I never see another person. It is just me and the squirrels and the deer and sometimes Patches, and the world is entirely quiet in a way the rest of the day never quite manages.
This morning the silence was so complete that the only thing I could hear was the distant hum of an air conditioner somewhere down the road. There is something I did not expect about that kind of quiet: it is not empty. It is full. Full of birdsong and rustling and the particular sound of early light, if light can be said to make a sound. I think it can. In a world that is permanently making noise, silence has become something I am actively looking for, and these walks are where I find it.
Tomorrow I have my annual MRI, and if you are the praying kind, I would appreciate your prayers.
On the Nightstand
This week I finished Frankie by Graham Norton, and it was exactly the kind of novel I did not know I needed. Frankie Howe has spent a lifetime on the edges of things, watching, observing, never quite sure enough of herself to step into the center. Now old and recovering from a fall in her London flat, she begins telling her story to Damian, a young Irish caretaker who arrives to look after her. What spills out is a life — post-war Ireland, 1960s New York, friendship and art and the particular intensity of certain years that blaze so brightly you spend the rest of your life wondering how to talk about them. Norton writes with a lightness that conceals real feeling, and Frankie herself is the kind of character you keep thinking about after you have closed the book.
Looking for more books? Everything I have recommended can be found on My Bookshop. Most are also available from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and on Libby from your local library.
Something to Watch
This week I discovered filmmaker Jack Harris, and I have been watching his work with the kind of attention I usually reserve for a very good book. If you have not come across him yet, this is a beautiful place to start. I hope it turns out to be an ongoing series, because I am already wanting more.
What I Wish I Were Wearing
The rain has brought with it cooler air, not cold but definitely cooler than the 90s’ we’ve had. With it my mind is slowly wandering to sweater weather. Crazy, I know. It’s not even August. This rollneck sweater will take you from cool summer nights right into Fall, layer it with a t-shirt or button down. Pair it with jeans, shorts, pants or skirts. Slingback sandals, tennis shoes or flip flops will work along with this bag or a tote.
Outfit Separates Below
The rain has moved on now but it left something behind, a cooler morning, a quieter quality to the light, and that kind of energy that comes when you have been waiting for a turn and it finally comes.
Tell me — are you a summer person or do you start counting down to fall the moment August arrives?
You can also find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, where I share the small beautiful things between posts.
Have a wonderful day friends.
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On My Radar
Sending prayers for your MRI. I am so in agreement that this Summer in the South can’t end soon enough. Done with it! I can hardly wait for the -ber months; in fact, I bought a Halloween owl at Homegoods just to pretend it is October now.
Said a prayer this morning for you and a dear friend who’s having surgery today. May you both be blessed with good news. My husband and I are both summer people and will rarely complain about the heat. Having lived in northern Sweden with the dark and cold most of the year, we relish in our Florida sunshine and know we are in the minority.
Suzanne, thank you! I will pray for your friend as well.
Are you from Sweden? How long have you been in Florida? I would love to know more about your time in Sweden.
Thank you again,
I was an exchange student to Sweden after high school and met my husband during that time. We married a few years later and lived in Sweden for the first years of marriage. Eventually moved to the US and had our careers in NYC. We retired to Florida about 10 years ago, but took a 2 year break when we sold our large home and virtually 90% of what we owned; travelled the world out of carry on suitcases before eventually settling down again in a much smaller home.
Suzanne, that sounds like a full and wonderful life. Of all of the places that you traveled over the two years which was the most interesting, fascinating or just your favorite?
Thank you for sharing!
Sending prayers for a good outcome from your MRI. Count me in on Autumn! I love the Fall and it’s never long enough. I like winter too though!
Sending prayers for an uneventful MRI. I had brain aneurysms embolized over 15 years ago. I was panicking ahead of time as my brain is one of my favorite organs. After nine years, of annual brain MRIs … I finally graduated a few years back.
Georgia, thank you! My brain is one of my favorite organs too! Not that you mention it my whole body means a lot to me. Thank God that you are ok! Nine years of annual MRI is a long time. was ready recently about brain aneurysms, sadly my sisters’ fiancé died of one about 15 years ago. With my family history or breast cancer my doctors recommend one yearly and I think I will have many more ahead God willing.
Thank you agin, I appreciate your prayers, your comment and sharing your story.
Petrichor – the way the earth smells after a rain
Books-Whistler, The Calamity Club, Theo of Golden
Kitty, I have read those books as well and enjoyed them. I think they are some of the best I have read in years. And petrichor is one of my favorite words. I will have to look up the word for the scent of rain in the air before it actually starts to rain.
HAve a lovely day.
I am on team “countdown to Autumn”! Horrid dry conditions in my area of Pennsylvania. Some areas were flooded, within ten miles of me, and others have barely seen an inch of rain since mid-June. Of course I am in latter, my green lawn is as yellow as a harvested wheat field.
I live in a rural area and last week noticed the farm across from us was having a new well drilled. FRIGHTENING!
That well has been around for many many decades.
Prayers for you and your medical team.
Linda,
I am sorry to hear about your area of Pennsylvania. It’s been a strange, hot, summer. Do you normally have this sort of weather? My sister lives 2 miles from me, some days it’s raining at my house but not by hers. Other days it is raining there but not here.
Wells going dry is never, ever a good thing! I will keep you in my prayers.
Thank you for your prayers and comment.
Have a lovely week.
Praying for a good result from your MRI. And yes, in central NC it has been a great thing to get rain at last!
Thank you Maggie! I could not agree more. We need the rain here in NC.
Have a wonderful week.
Prayers for your upcoming MRI! May you feel the presence and the peace of God.
This summer has been one of those “hot ones”. Looking forward to those “…bers” also! Love the beauty and the crisp air of fall. I’m a snuggle buddy.
I’m not sure why you are having a MRI but I hope it is good news and gives you peace of mind for another year. Early morning walks or runs are my favorite time as well. The quiet stillness and a star-filled sky relaxes my mind and prepares me for the day. It’s my form of meditation. Peace and blessings!
Harriet, my mother had breast cancer at 36, cousin died at 34 of breast cancer, and my grandmother and 2 aunts had breast cancer. For the last few years in addition to a mammogram I have a MRI “just to be safe.” I appreciate your sentiments.
I love the quiet stillness of a star filled sky in the winder, especially if there is snow. IT is my favorite time of year. Once it cools off I will have to try it again.
Thank you for sharing.
Dear Elizabeth,
I pray that your MRI works out well for you and the results are good. I know it’s an uncertain feeling
inside of your gut until you get the results. You remain in my warm thoughts. I just had my annual mammogram and I know how you must feel until the results are in.
I’m NOT a summer person, in fact I’m starting to dread it every time May rolls around. At least I do not have to be out and about in and out of my SUV and traveling to see my accounts anymore. Thank goodness those days are behind me. One day it was 123 degrees, and I was out in it. Not a pretty experience.
Have a lovely day, and take TLC of yourself.
Sending prayers your way…
Thank you Mary! They are appreciated.
Prayers that all goes well and the results are good news. Summer all the way. I’m hoping you get your Fall soon, which means I will have my Spring. I can’t remember the name of the children’s cartoon my kids used to watch (adults now) and she would sing “Spring is here, spring is here, spring is here at last” and I still sing it to them now.