May is never dull. It is intense, it carries the greatest bulk of outdoor work (because the weather is so good for it, and the bugs are so few!) -- and it's work of a good kind. It is also the end of the school year for the kids and there are events signaling this: outdoor sports days, hikes, recitals. Me, I never travel much in May and yet the month is so exciting! The move to the porch for breakfast (really exciting!), the progression of blooms outside, and visits -- the Chicago young family comes, my far away friends come, my daughter's friends come. A social time that I love, because these are all people who make me very happy.
And now here we are, at the tail end of the month. Like with all good things in your life, it feels like a speed demon has seized the month and ran full speed ahead and away with it. And so here we are -- on the last days of it. But May leaves behind a deep contentment that carries you through so much of the year. May is like an intoxicating sugar high that lasts, one that is good for you and carries no penalty.
Today would have been a spectacularly brilliant day but for the wildfires in Canada. The pollution is making its way south and so our blue skies of the early morning turn hazy by breakfast time. Like summer skies on the coast that seemed to me to be perpetually and unpleasantly thick when I lived there.
We tried to concentrate our outdoor stuff in the early hours, before the air quality index shot up.
And yes, breakfast was on the porch!
Ed worked on repairing the walkway to the back door.
I did some heavy duty weeding at a nearby flower bed -- the one that has abundant sunlight and so I am especially careful with it. Two hours later I straightened my back and gave it up -- to be finished tomorrow. Maybe.
The kids are here in the afternoon. There have been some tricky situations at school, and I was proud of how both supported each other as they discussed the ins and out of navigating challenging situations.
Perhaps wanting to switch focus to stuff outside their own backyard, we read nearly the entire time they were here. The current book we're on has some pretty obnoxious characters in it. Anything the grandkids may encounter in their days looks tame by comparison.
Evening: I'm hoping for rain tonight and cleaner air tomorrow. Is that too big a request? What can I say. It'll be the last day of May. Maybe it will deliver!
with love...
