Channeling Summers in the Outskirts of London and Time Spent in Roskilde on Lars Farm as We Head Towards June (My Favorite Month)

I remember the first time I was fortunate to spend time in an English garden. Amy Parton, leader singer of King Kong and an extraordinary human being, introduced me to her family friends and they took us in for a short while where we drank tea in the back garden, fed baby fox, and were mesmerized by the landscaping and care of the flowers. I remember similar joy in all the years of living in Roskilde during the summer in my trailer. There's something about the warm sun and possible cool air of June that makes it a spectacular month. April showers are to bring May flowers, true, but then there is also June.

Yesterday was one of those wonderful spring days. I did a lot of yard work and enjoyed the temperatures. Karal rested on the porch and I putzed in the gardens, started to rearrange, mowed the lawn and trimmed most of the bushes (I'll do the front ones this morning). I know Cynde and Mike redid their back porch and now I'm wondering if I should do the same (and add a jacuzzi so I can enjoy the back porch year round). It's easy to dream up such joyous occasion when the temperatures are perfect and I don't have a million things to accomplish for work and CWP. The rare occasion to think and enjoy simply has me dreaming more about what might be possible.

I also have a backyard full of Connecticut potatoes (giant rocks) that I'd love to rearrange to landscape a better backyard and garden....maybe even enhance the fire pit some. Every time I mow out back I can't help but recall the decade of moving here and all the life that occurred with volleyball games, corn hole, barbecues, and fires. Strange how quickly such rituals came and then disappeared. They were always wonderful times with lots of laughter. 

I took a shower around 4 and then headed to Pam's for casseroles, pea soup, and the bread I made. Today, too, I'm reuniting with Susan LaFrance, the grant officer and accountant that took care of CWP for so many years. It was wonderful seeing her daughter, Elizabeth, graduate with her Masters degree from the School of Business a couple of weeks ago. She, like me, used to be in her office on weekends trying to keep up with it all. They awarded her by letting her go...a tradition that happens to those without tenure protections our campus. It's a budget saving mechanism which is wrong and unfair, especially when someone is as talented as Susan is/was.

I was writing Kentucky friends yesterday saying I made the right decision moving to a location in the northeast, especially with water to look at on the daily. Such serenity really does matter, as do our gardens. I just wish I didn't hurt so much getting up and down...the things they don't prepare you for in youth.

And yes, my allergies are a mess. It's that time of year...but I'll take them with these temperatures.