Off to a girlfriends' long weekend and will return Tues. of next week.
We all are going to kick back, explore and laugh, just laugh.

We are all so ready for a bit of a change so it will be a good time, because we are going to make it a great time.

It is not often that we can take these types of diversions together and so it will be memorable and be one of those warm spots we dream up in the weary months...maybe even something to look forward to for another escape in tradition.

Tradition is an established way of creating fond and potent memories, it often is in a religious context but when you can go beyond and include friends and a little bit of nature and adventure, oh, the memories go overthemoon!

n. See you all soon...

You have been so welcome in my life. I once had a letter writing best friend, via a club for such, we wrote each other all through all the births of my babes and all my many moves. I miss him, he passed away a couple of years ago and I continue communicating with his lovely wife, weird how that happens, but we all actually met one sunny beautiful afternoon in upstate NY. I believe it was at Monticello, I could be wrong. We did a short tour and then had a picnic together. We all connected and were on our way to our other lives, but it was a memorable couple of hours because Jim and I continued to commuinicate until he was incommunicado, one of the saddest moments of my life.

I just love to connect with people, and so did Jim. The internet helped us journey. We may not have moved much but our screens brought us love, condolences and hugs anytime we needed them. Life seems complicated now, what used to be a hug from a relative in your home, is now a hug from a new found friend in cyberspace. I wonder if any of my new Stream friends feel the same as I do.

Blogging is a great avenue to find a fulfillment beyond the everyday Main Street we all travel. It is very diverse and full of information and very good people, and I love to open my heart to all the new and wonderful personalities in my Stream. I find my travels through the Stream very much mimic life.

n.

Well, an influx of books have hit the shelves for our summer reading pleasure. I will name a few I picked for my beach reads, While You're Here, Doc Farmyard Adventures of a Maine Veterinarian by Bradford B. Brown, DVM; The Cottagers by Marshall N. Klimasewiski; We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich; Lisey's Story by Stephen King; Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles.

Now, mind you, I have a library full of books to read, but I just can't resist the purchase of one of those possibly life altering stories hidden in the pages between a book cover. I'm also a hopeless channel flipper, coasting between several books at once. It keeps my mind alert to keep straight the cast of characters and story lines for each book. I pick up a story according to my mood, sometimes several books in a day. This is my freedom of summer routine, because I don't find I do this with the same frenzy in the winter, spring or fall.

The venue of my reading also changes, almost as much as the books do;
on a bench outside, in the dark library, on a pool chaise, in my bed,
at the beach, etc. the beach, being the least desirable. I am always interrupted or distracted while I am reading at the beach; a Frisbee will hit me in the head, someone's beach towel is shaken inches from my face, a radio blares, children are screaming, the wind turns the pages or I am distracted by the varieties of bodies strung into bathing suits, similar to the way I drape my Christmas tree, rather free form and sometimes tight fitting. But, none of this stops me from my serial reading, whatever fits the mood, after all it's summer!

n.