Savouring the last drops of summer

The sun is low in the sky on another hot, clear blue sky day. It is amazing to me that the summer is almost over. It has sprinted past me this year--probably because it is the first summer in years that I have not gone home to Cyprus. I associate summer with swimming in the Mediterranean and lounging at outdoor cafes sipping Nescafe frappes and chatting with friends for hours on end. Yeah. So I've been spoiled. I am a bit of a summer snob. The Mediterranean has given me high standards for summer. 

All that said however, I have done a number of things this summer that I would not normally take the time to do if I were in the Mediterranean:

I've read way more novels, which is always a luxury of the best variety, in my opinion.

I have been able to keep my Wednesday morning writing dates with my friend Ahava, which is encouraging me to make a good deal of progress on my novel, which I otherwise might have dismissed for the summer. I am also making lots of progress with the research for my novel, which is set in Europe in the 1940s, and have had multiple life-changing conversations in just the last few weeks with a woman who survived the Holocaust and has gone on to be an artist and healer. If I had not been here, we would never have connected.

I have been around to attend the women's devotional gathering that I am heading off to again this evening with a group of incredibly funny and wise women.

I am writing in my journal daily.

I have more time to volunteer.
 
My mother and I have been able to enjoy more blended blancos together at our favourite local coffee joint :-) 

And I am getting to know my local community better. Having conversations with folks that I might otherwise never have stopped to talk to.

Speaking of doing things this summer that I would not ordinarily do, it's time to go meet the wild and wise women in my women's devotional group.

What are you filling the last days of your summer with? Whatever it is, I hope you are savouring every last drop of the heat and golden sunlight. The first leaves on our street have already started falling, reminding me to notice and enjoy what remains of the season. I'm heading out to do just that!