In case I end up being incommunicado this weekend…
I hope this historic storm is historic only in that it didn’t happen or wasn’t as bad as predicted, but I’m not taking any chances.
I have filled the house with food that doesn’t need cooking, taken cash out of the bank, parked my car away from power lines, removed my ice scraper from my vehicle, downloaded a couple of e-books, and charged up all my electronics and power banks. I guess I am as ready as I can be!
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, BIG Music Fest July 2014
I have loved seeing live acts since I was in my early teens. I love it now more than ever and I discussed that here.
And there is nothing I love more than music, in the outdoors, in the summer. Yep, the summer music festival.
The last few years have been amazing for summer music festivals. Acts are touring like crazy lately, in order to make money. And this widow is happy to take advantage. (I think it may have peaked last year but there are still plenty to choose from.)
BIG Music Fest, July 2014Aerosmith, Sunday Headliner at BIG Music Fest 2014Monster Truck, BIG Music Fest July 2015Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction, BIG Music Fest July 2015The Glorious Sons @ the CNE, August 2015Junkanoo, Hillside Music Festival July 2016The Temperance Movement, Toronto Festival of Beer July 2016 (OK, not technically a music festival but it still rocked!)Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Bloemendaal, The Netherlands, August 2016Mother Mother @ Riverfest Elora 2017
The only downside (for me) of outdoor music festivals is taking your chances on the weather. I’ve been at these events where the temps were over 30 degrees Celsius and there was no shade to be had. I’ve also been stuck outdoors all day and night at 12 degrees Celsius, where the kids and I huddled together under our picnic blanket for warmth, while we watched the acts. I’ve also been rained on.
But the majority of music festivals I’ve attended have been in great weather. Which is why summer music festivals rock!
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
There is something about the summer that just inspires laziness and overall enjoyment of life, doncha think?
The heat and the humidity tell us to slow down and spend some time on the porch or patio (or the hammock if you are lucky enough to have one), during the heat of the day or evening.
However, thanks to air conditioning, and the generally hectic pace of modern life, we seldom slow down anymore no matter how hot it gets. In this regard, we are going against nature.
Do you see animals working hard in the heat, of their own accord? Nope, they are lazing in some shady spot, eyeing us humans and no doubt wondering why we are acting so damn crazy.
Karen made a thought-provoking post on her blog, Profound Journey, a couple of days ago, regarding slowing down and doing nothing. Not only is the post worth a read (as all of hers are), but the comments are as well. Most of us are doing too much and feeling guilty, should we be doing “nothing”. Whatever doing “nothing” means to you.
For some of us it is anytime we are not doing “something” for someone else.
For others it is whenever we are not producing “something” or going somewhere to do “something”.
For most of us, it is when we feel we are not using our time efficiently – we are “wasting time”, doing “nothing”. Or “nothing in particular”.
We are being lazy, by doing “nothing”.
But what if we reframe this and call it something else? I just downloaded the digital version ($2.65 on Kobo!) of a book I borrowed from the library many years ago. This book opened my mind to the revolutionary (to me) idea that doing “nothing” is vital to creativity and the spirit. Back in the ’80s, when I first read If You Want to Write, this book was already old. It was first published in 1938.
I recommend this book, even if you are not a writer. Ms. Ueland was ahead of her time.
“So you see, imagination needs moodling, – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.” If you want to write – Brenda Ueland
Moodling. What a great, old-fashioned word that needs to make a comeback! Let’s not call our lovely, empty days or hours being “lazy” or doing “nothing”. Why not write “moodling” or “moodle time” or “gone moodling” in your calendar instead?
I’ve grown to love moodling. And I hardly even don’t feel guilty about it, anymore.
And if you’re new to the concept of moodling, the long, languid days of summer are the perfect time to start working on your moodle game. Abandon any air-conditioned spaces and find a nice shady spot to stretch out in, with a good book and a cold bevvy. It’ll help start you on the righteous path. (You get bonus points if you doze off!)
Let’s make this the Summer of Laziness Moodling.
Rock (and moodle) on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
In the summer, I need to be near water. I want to be in it or on it. Luckily I live in a province blessed with, and bounded by rivers and lakes.
I live very close to water. Because of this I have invested in some watercraft, with which to get my butt onto the water. I briefly considered getting a canoe. But for stability and manoeuverability on relatively calm waters, a kayak can’t be beat, in my opinion. Behold my kayak collection:
Kayak Parking Only. My pink sit-on-top: “Pink Floyd”, ready to be wheeled down to the Speed River, with a mug of tea and a muffin for breakfast on the water.“Smokey Robinson” – my sit-in kayak, along the banks of the SpeedMizz J piloting “Al Green” – my 2-seater kayak. I don’t use this as much as I thought I would so I think I will sell it this spring.
I love to get out on the water, to get up close and personal to stuff like this:
Speed River water lilies
And then there is always this, to look forward to:
Drifting back home on the Speed on a beautiful summer evening as the sun is beginning to set.
When I get onto the river with one of my kayaks on a warm summer’s day, it’s like I’ve gone on a mini-vacation. And I haven’t even left town.
Have you ever kayaked?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
So delicious. Especially with goat cheese. Summer, 2014. Pre-renovation kitchen, in all its 1980’s wall-papered glory.
Last night I scrolled through about 5,000 photos trying to find this one of when I last canned some jam. How in the heck has 4 years passed since then? I could have sworn it was only 2 summers ago.
I’ve made peach jam a few times over the decades but not often, because frankly it can be a little unexciting. Unless you doctor it up with a bunch of spices or add apricots or perform some other kitchen sleight-of-hand, it can be bland, in my opinion. If you go to all the trouble to make your own jam, it should knock your socks off, I figure.
And then I came across a recipe using spiced rum (I forget why or how) and I was intrigued.
Anyways, I made this peach jam with spiced rum, and it was amazeballs. And it only lasted about 5 seconds in the house. And I should have made more, and I should have made more every summer since.
Do you preserve the bounty of summer in any way? Any favourite jam or canning recipes you’d like to share?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
Along with the summer, comes the bugs…the insects. (The bugs of summer are one reason I prefer Fall for a lot of outdoor activities.)
Insects are so necessary for survival on our planet…I know, I know. We’d all soon be dead if there were no bugs.
However, in the summer insects can also be big pains in the ass, and some are downright assholes.
Mosquitoes for one. Deer flies for another. But in my mind, there is only one true contender for the Summer Asshole Insect crown (if ever there was such a thing): the wasp.
There I was, exiting my building and minding my own business one morning last August when a wasp came out of nowhere and dive-bombed into my arm and stung me. A couple of days later my arm starting swelling and turning red around the sting.
Asshole wasp sting that became infected. At the doctor’s office. An antibiotic cream was prescribed and took care of it. But, still! What an asshole.
On the other arm hand, I love seeing butterflies, damselflies, bumblebees and of course – DRAGONFLIES – in the summer.
And it wouldn’t be summer without hearing the whine song of the cicadas as the temperatures rise.
How do you feel about our buggy assholes friends? Any favourites? Any ones you just can’t stand?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
I love to get out on the trail. It’s something that has helped me clear my mind and exercise my body since I was a small child.
I credit my dad mainly, for instilling this love of the outdoors in me. I talked about this in a previous A-Z challenge post, here.
In the summer, my hiking behaviour changes. I don’t do the heat well anymore. So my hikes are shorter, and in the very early morning or later in the evening. Or on heavily shaded trails. But I still get out there.
Cooling my toes in Point Pelee, on Canada Day – JulyElora Gorge in August – taking a break from Riverfest to stretch my legsKelowna, in September – I tried to stick to the lakeshore trails as much as I could while I walked back and forth to the hospital to visit with my sister. Coming back from a hike along the riverbank on a late summer night, in the Village
Do you still get out and hike in the summer? Are your summer hikes different from your spring/fall/winter ones?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
Last summer was the first year I had a garden, here at Chez Badass – my rooftop garden. My very expensive rooftop garden, when you consider I had to invest a couple hundred dollars in containers and soil to grow less than $10 worth of plants and seeds. But no matter, the enjoyment I got from it was priceless.
The Badass Rooftop Garden produced pole beans and cherry tomatoes until an overnight frost hit mid-October. This photo was taken in September.
I decided that I will focus on growing things that are hard to get at farm markets or from directly from farmers. Hence pretty much the only thing I want to grow is pole beans. Which I cannot easily source, otherwise! Why is that, I wonder? They taste so much better than bush beans.
Soon I’ll be ordering my seeds from this place:
I love this catalogue. It’s the promise of summer in magazine form.I zone in on this page, and this page only.
And here is my pick for this year:
Hunter boots not included with seed order. Damn.
I’ll be plunking down $2.25 for these babies, plus some peat pots to start them in. Looking so forward to harvesting fresh beans most nights for supper, all summer long. Already dreaming about how good these will taste alongside my corn and tomatoes on a hot summer evening, on my rooftop patio, accompanied by a cold beer.
Do you grow anything to eat in the summer? Have you ever had pole beans?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
I’m lucky enough to be in very close proximity to both a farm market and a farmers’ market.
In the summer, my local farm market is open 7 days a week, and I hit it often on the way home from work to see what new local food is in season.
Ditto with the Friday afternoon Farmers’ Market set up a few short paces from my home in the Village. It’s a great start to the weekend. I park my car and grab my marketing bag and my cash, and head down the street to see what’s new since last Friday.
I especially love visiting both places in August. For years now, I have secretly thought of August as “the month of good eatin’“. Fresh sweet corn, field tomatoes, and peaches. All ripe and ready in August. A perfect trifecta for a summer meal, the best of the bounty of the summer season, starts arriving in August ’round here.
Of course I also love everything else grown around here – the asparagus, the berries, the peas, the beans, radishes, lettuces, cucumbers, plums, pears and squashes…oh those Kabocha squashes!!!!
But there’s something about August, when the corn, tomatoes and peaches are all available together, that is very special to me.
What do you look most forward to, at the farm market?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
The last time I met a new work colleague, she made a point of telling me she was struck by my “joie de vivre“, as she called it. (I must have been having a pretty good day at work…hehehe!)
No one has ever told me that before but I really do enjoy life – now more than ever – so I am not disputing the label.
I have a hard time being down and staying down, generally.
My ex knew if he just stayed out of the line of fire long enough when he did something to hurt or anger me I would forget I was mad at him, and slowly equilibrate back to my cherub-like demeanour (to steal from the late great John Pinette).
It only took him 17 years to finally wear down my love of life so much that I felt I had to leave him, to save my own soul. But I digress…
This “loving life” feeling and attitude peaks for me in the summer months.
Especially on warm summer nights. You know, the ones where the temperature is just right so that you are completely comfortable? And there is a soft, warm breeze blowing across your exposed skin. If not for the breeze, you wouldn’t know where you ended and the summer air began.
Nights like those I feel so damn alive and grateful to be alive, I just want to leap and dance around for joy. And I do, whenever I can. I’ve had these exuberant moments since I was a child. I feel full of what I have come to call thewildness of life. I don’t know how else to explain it.
Wheeee! Life is AMAZING! I’m like this horse. Or a dog with the “zoomies”. Or a bunny in the midst of a “binky”:
I tried to explain these feelings to both of my husbands, in turn, to see if they ever felt that way too. Both times this was a mistake. Each of them reacted in the same way – they seemed to be both threatened by, and disapproving of, what I was telling them. And no, they definitely did not cop to ever feeling this way.
Once again, I felt like there was something wrong with me. That I was some kind of freak. (Nothing new here, folks – I’ve felt this way around others since I was a small child.)
Is anybody out there with me on this?
Have you ever felt your exuberant, wild heart making itself known to you?
Rock on,
The WB
Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!
