Sunflowers, Potatoes, & Cherry Tomatoes

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“The best rooms were on the left-hand side… for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

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Things that made me happy in July:

Tim’s Fourth of July party, and how he is the Gandalf of fireworks

Kids just out of the swimming pool with wrinkly feet

July 4th bubble guns and chalk and strawberries with whipped cream on a blanket in the grass

Fireworks after dark, and Joel and Natalie teaching the couples East Coast Swing

Wildflower gardens in bloom around the Bascom House

Taking Jared on a hike down to the river and remembering back to when Dad took us kids there for a church service one Sunday

Listening to Papa Jay’s quartet records on the big stereo in his basement; Papa nodding along to each song

Coffee and blueberry bars and Bible study

Sharing the kitchen, making bread and a meal for the whole family

Music in the dining room, and how the neighbor boys brought their guitar over

Playing violin along with Brian’s Irish whistle

Long morning conversation on the patio of the coffee shop, overlooking the river

Borrowing Mema’s pickling supplies and cookbook, and carrying the big pot around the pond back to our kitchen

Pickling cucumbers to 40’s Big Band; a hot stovetop and smell of dill on my hands

A summer evening for harvesting potatoes

Pops of zinnias and big, golden sunflowers along the fence

Wednesday night prayer meeting that’s like a deep well we keep returning to, to draw grace from

A wedding reception up on Sunset Hill; corn hole and dancing

Dad’s sermon on Romans 7

Shane and Shane’s Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (Live)

The Valley of Vision prayers every morning, each one meeting me right where I need it

Thunder in the night

Afternoon visit with Papa and Mema in the sunroom, talking about how much rain we got and what color to paint the old wagon wheel

Picking the garden with the kids; Elanor in a dress with fistfuls of cherry tomatoes

A bouquet of Gerber daisies and ferns

Sunset light pooling on Rend Lake

A white egret

The pop-up camper

Camp meals of watermelon, brats, and chicken salad, and waving to church friends as they pulled into the campground

A day on the lake, surfing and wakeboarding and getting sunburned and hungry

Lila in a sunhat

A long paddle with Trent in the kayaks along the coves of the lakeshore

Kids’ Camp Day in the backyard— water wars, obstacle courses, chalk, toys, bubbles, watermelon popsicles, and making t-shirts like we used to do with Nanny

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