A few nights ago on the tail end of our 10 hour drive from Winnipeg I spotted swarms of fireflies in the fields of Iowa. I was entranced by their sparkly lights. After a quick internet search it seems like populations are still declining yet I saw many swooping around and it was thrilling. I hope we never see these beautiful little creatures disappear. They look like little fairies fluttering over the fields and ditches. I feel terrible that I captured them in jars when I was a child. Luckily we did always release them but we probably caused irreparable damage to the MN firefly population.
Another summer love is rhubarb. My grandmother had a big patch of it that we would pull from every summer. She’d make pies, jam, cobblers, and a variety of other rhubarb desserts throughout the summer and she’d freeze more to have in the winter. I recently made a rhubarb/strawberry galette and vegan rhubarb bread and both were so amazing. I bought a box of peaches this week so I’m making a cobbler tomorrow.
The beach, boating and being at the lake are also high on my list in the summer. Last weekend I ventured to my brother’s house for that exact reason. I knew he and his wife had a busy weekend but they reserved Sunday for boating on Lake Minnetonka. I love crashing over the waves, feeling the sun on my face, listening for loons, and diving into the cool waters. We boated as kids and those are definitely some of my happiest memories.
Each time a make a post with JOY in it I can’t help but reflect on all that is terrible in the world as well. I can’t help it. I feel all the pain from Gaza and the Palestinian people, the Ukrainian population still fighting this war against the behemoth Russia. I’m an empath so I think about this everyday but I also am appreciating my summer, time with my kids, reading, writing, and enjoying the sun. Terrible things are part of life but what we are experiencing with children starving and bombs crashing down as people reach for food is a new kind of horror and we can find ways to help. I donate as much as I can to a variety of causes and make phone calls to our blind/deaf representatives. So while we go about our daily life, remember how many people are experiencing horrific acts and force yourself to make phone calls, donate, and talk about your fears and thoughts with others.
What I’m reading: The Anxious Generation, Kindred by Octavia Butler, El Niño by Pamela Munoz Ryan. All excellent.
Peaceful Reader 