Musings from Marilyn

Posts Tagged ‘summer’

My beautiful blue hydrangea finally started blooming about two weeks ago.  Yes, in August.  I am really not much of a gardener; I mostly just leave all the plants, bushes, and trees in my yard to do their own thing, with little assistance from me.  So I really don’t know when things are supposed to bloom.  But if memory serves me correctly, my hydrangea usually blooms around May or June.

This has been no ordinary summer in Seattle.  A long, gray, rainy, cold spring has melded into a long, gray, rainy, cold summer.  Most days the temps have barely managed to get out of the 60s.  I realize that, compared to the rest of the HOT country, it may seem like somewhat of a paradise.  But not being able to wear cute summer clothes and bask in the sunshine is akin to torture for me – at least once in awhile!  I’m getting a bit weary of wearing jeans, sweaters and wool socks.

As a result of the summer that never was, my hydrangea took its sweet time in blooming.  Due to all the rainfall in the past year, my hydrangea plant grew massively.  I didn’t even have to water it once.  And now all the gorgeous blue puff balls are popping out all over!

There is just something so poignant about hydrangeas.  Their glorious splendor evokes a deep nostalgia in my heart.  I love looking at my hydrangea that sits just outside my office window; its cheerful blue beauty cheering me up.  My son, Alex, took these great pics of my hydrangea.  I think he did a splendid job capturing their essence.  May you bloom where you are planted. 

“Blue thou art, intensely blue; Flower whence came thy dazzling hue?” ~James Montgomery

~Marilyn Huttunen

Since becoming a complete and total air-drying fool several years ago, it’s amazing how the little things thrill me.  Now that summer has finally seemed to settle in somewhat in the Seattle area, I have been able to do most of my line drying outside.  Yes.  On a clothesline!

During the loooooooong, rainy winter, spring, and the first weeks of summer, I was feeling quite doubtful that I would ever be able to use my outdoor clothesline again.  Racks of laundry drying indoors filled my kitchen, bathroom, and occasional hallway.  It took days for it to get completely dry.  It was like doing the tango, maneuvering through the maze of drying racks.

It hasn’t been really hot here, but 70 degrees and a nice breeze seem to be the ideal conditions for good drying.  It’s so nice to hang laundry in the morning and actually take it in, dried, in the afternoon.  Everything is so smooth, crisp, and has the intoxicating scent of the sweet summer air. Aaaaaaaah!

Sheets and towels are especially blissful air-dried.  I may be in the minority, but I love a fresh, snappy, stiff air-dried towel!  You will never want to go back to soft, limp, non-absorbent dryer-dried-fabric softener-Bounce kind of towel after you get used to air-dried towels. Fake scented, chemical coated towels are a thing of the past for me, thank goodness.

I am relishing, and have a much greater appreciation for these nice summer days.  It’s great to put the summer weather to work; just hang and go (I am inherently lazy)!  Plus, it’s free, and I think the laundry turns out much better.   Here’s to more great summer weather! 

“After enlightenment, the laundry.”  ~Zen Proverb

~Marilyn Huttunen

Ahhh, the Fifth of July, how sweet the sound!  Or silence, rather.

I managed to make it through yet another year of ear-blasting pyrotechnics in the neighborhood.  We live in an area where fireworks are still legal to shoot off, and man, does everyone around here take advantage of that.  Endless hours of  BOOM, CRACK, POWS! I steel myself every year and try to serenely ride it out.

I am not so exploding-things inclined.  I really do think it is an inbred guy thing;  I mean, do you ever see packs of women detonating fireworks?  I don’t.  My son looks forward to the Fourth of July every year; where he can go with his friends to the Indian Reservation, buy illegal fireworks, and spend the whole night blowing things up to their hearts content.  That’s fine and dandy, just don’t expect me to join in; to have to listen to it is quite enough!

Another great thing about the Fifth of July, at least in Seattle, is that it is the unofficial start of summer.  IT NEVER FAILS!  We usually have a cool, rainy June through the Fourth of July.  And yes, it was cool and raining yesterday.  And then miraculously on July 5th, the sun comes out, the clouds part and the rain disappears, like clockwork.  Just another one of the quirky occurrences of living in the Pacific Northwest.  But certainly glad summer is finally here – Happy Fifth of July!

~Marilyn

I suppose I should be elated that we’ve finally gotten a couple of “nice” days wedged in between the ever-present clouds and rain?  As a 100% laundry air-dryer, I pay even greater attention to the weather, always aware of when it is the right time to hang out on the clothesline.  When there is a break in the rain, I’ve been luxuriating in actually being able to hang my laundry outside.  It is something that I’ve waited for all winter (and this year, spring); the ability to let Mother Nature’s sun and wind blow dry my clothes.  I really like the feel and scent of outside-dried laundry.  The scent is absolutely captivating, and changes with the seasons.  And I get very tired of  indoor laundry racks cluttering up the house.

There have been a couple of days this week where it was dry, and even a little bit of sunshine, so I briskly took advantage of the line-drying opportunity.  It is so great to be able to hang it all up in the morning and just leave it out all day.  I don’t have to wait around for clothes to dry in the dryer, I let nature do its thing in its own time.  I swear the laundry just loves being outside too; soaking up the rays and catching a breeze!

However, I have noticed that I now have a bit of competition for my clothesline.  Spiders are building their webs on it, and seemingly millions of teeny tiny spiders are madly scurrying around.  I do like spiders – when they are outside, doing useful things like catching bugs.  I don’t like them in the house – or trying to take up space on my clothesline.  So I have been knocking them webs off.  But just to show I am not entirely heartless, I did leave a web on today – it must have been a very polite spider who built its web at the very end of the clothesline.  I can deal with that.  Tiny spiders crawling in my laundry just doesn’t appeal to me.

Along with spider confrontation, I have noticed a great many buzzing bees around my clothesline.  I do believe there is a hive nearby.  That’s what I get for leaving the dandelions for the bees to feast on!  No, actually I love bees and like to protect and encourage them at all costs.  So I am learning to coexist with them too…as long as I don’t get stung I’m cool with that.

I do have raccoons who live in a tree stump in my side yard.  I’m awaiting their annual summer appearance with their babies.  I don’t mind raccoons either – they keep the vermin population at bay.  And as long as they stay away from the house (and my clothesline), I’m cool with them too.

Here’s to many days of sweet summer drying!

~Marilyn

I have been feeling wistful the last few days, and I think it’s because I’m realizing that summer is starting it’s slow fade into autumn.  The days are not as long, and the sun is setting markedly earlier.  It is still hot, but not that burning intense mid-summer heat.  The leaves are starting to turn on my maple trees, and the blackberries are ripening fast.

I am realizing more and more how much I really love summer.  The long days and brilliant light are so treasured!  The Pacific Northwest has months and months of unending gray dampness, so the sun is especially welcome.  I can dry my clothes outside on the clothesline,  I don’t have to turn on the heat, and rarely even turn on the lights.  I wear as few clothes as possible and don’t have to worry about layering, socks, and shoes. It is just a simpler lifestyle all around.

But my fashion magazine ‘Fall Fashion Spectacular!’ issues have been arriving at a steady clip, advising me what I absolutely need to be wearing this fall (’80s-style sequined shoulder-padded mini dresses, no thank you…).  School schedules and supply lists for my son are coming too.  The inevitably of fall is upon me.  I don’t know how much more I can live in denial of that fact!

I never been too great at transition points.  I always get thrown off for awhile, and a little sad.  Once I’m past the delicate tricky part, I can delve into change with great gusto, but I have to go through a little poignancy in the meanwhile.   I guess it’s just a part of life of living in a place with four distinct seasons, and me being a more sensitive sort.  It pays to just go along with your feelings sometimes.

While I will soon bid the long days of summer adieu, I’ll hold onto and enjoy the last vestiges of light and warmth while it is still here.  I actually do enjoy fall in all it’s glory.  But let me loll in summertime for a while longer.

Marilyn