Random Summer Thoughts

I am eating cantaloupe. It’s not my favorite fruit by any stretch of the imagination, but it does remind me that one of my favorite things about the summer is the wonderful variety of fruit that’s available. Last night at the grocery store, we bought not only the cantaloupe, but also apples, oranges, blueberries, cherries, and teardrop-shaped grapes. Yum.

The children’s shoes were getting beyond shabby, and because it was just about time for back-to-school shopping anyway, I took the kids to the Sketchers store last week. I used to buy the cheapest available sneakers for them, back when their feet were growing about an inch per day. Now the kids are growing more slowly, which means their shoes last longer, so I feel like I can spend more money on their shoes. Also, Payless went out of business, leaving us with no obvious alternative. Sketchers are expensive, but they’re fairly well-made, and more importantly, they’re wider than most shoes. Marshall and I both have wide feet, so Sketchers is a good brand for us, and the wideness doesn’t bother Livia, whose feet are narrower. I spent a fortune, but now the kids each have one nice pair and one “beater” pair. One of Marshall’s pairs has lights in the soles. Last night when we got home from furniture shopping, Marshall danced around on the darkest part of the driveway so we could admire the colorful lights. It was like the weirdest firefly display we’d ever seen, but wonderful.

Interesting item of note: Livia now wears the same size of shoe (8.5) as I do.

Honeybees like plantain flowers. Plantain flowers are so boring. Ugly, even. But the honeybees that I’ve seen in the yard lately just can’t get enough. They ignore the other, prettier (from my perspective) flowers and fly from plantain to plantain. I enjoy watching them at their work. It’s rare to see any honeybees in the yard anymore. To see more than one at a time is a little miracle.

Hummingbirds are curious birds. When we have the audacity to leave the house, thus getting close to both their feeder and the hosta flowers that they love so much, the hummingbirds fly away too fast for me to see. But if I look up, I often see one hovering above, giving us a look like, “You gonna be long?”

Bumblebees are adorable, and they like hostas, too. They climb all the way into the flowers, then wiggle their way back out. They’re even more fun to watch than honeybees. I often try to get pictures of them, but they move so fast that it’s difficult. I took a bunch of bumblebee photos the other day. If any of them came out good, I’ll share them later.