Today was just one of those days...it started out rather bumpy, but once I got past that I just let it flow. My only plans were a series of orthodontist and dentist appointments for the kids and myself. A got a run in with Emma and the dog, showered and then was off to the next appointment. All done and scratched off the list by 3. What to do with the rest of the day? Three o'clock in the summer is so different than three in the winter. Had it been December or the dead of January I would have literally been counting the dark minutes so that I could get myself into my pajamas for the night. But 3 in the dead of summer allows you another entire day of daylight and living. What to do?
Bike to the Farmer's market of course. I put my basket on my wicked witch of the west bike and Emma and I headed to town. It was a glorious day with a sky the color of the most delicious blue with clouds sweeping in and out of it's brilliance. I love sitting upright on my bike and looking around and just taking in everything all around me. I know I look ridiculous, but I am just so damned content, like feeling as though I am 10 again. We sailed into town and took a sharp right to go down the rest of the way on the riverside. We live in such a gorgeous town and as I pedaled along the boardwalk I lamented that I did not do this everyday. How is it that something so unique can be so forgotten? How is it that I allow life to pass me by in a series of to do's, child pick-ups, and the general laundry of everyday life? Well...no more.
My motto this summer is to be on "Island Time" even though we are not going to Martha's Vineyard this year for the first time in years. It is an experience in the ultimate "staycation". I decorated my kitchen like a beach house with beach prints, photos I have taken from past trips to the Vineyard, shells and rocks and seaweed. I am getting to the beach as much as possible and today, I incorporated the biking piece that is such a large part of our time on the Vineyard. And you know what? It was awesome!! I biked with island eyes and tried to really look at the town I live in that I barely even see everyday as I drive through it. Emma and I picked out all the best produce and stopped at our local Serendipity here in town, one of our all time favorites so that Emma could end her quest for the perfect wallet!! I wandered in behind her and saw my friend Mary who makes jewelry and works at the store. She had brought in a fresh shipment of her own stuff. I commented on the gorgeous necklace she was wearing and went on my way to help Emma.
And then I turned and saw it. A necklace like the one Mary was wearing, but in MY colors. I walked over, grabbed it up and put it on. It was made for me. I did not need the necklace, I mean do you ever NEED a necklace? In general I am not even a regular necklace-wearer, and this one was unlike ANYTHING I had ever worn before. It was big and chunky and made out of what appeared to be stones. The center stone was as blue as the sky I admired as I was biking in. I HAD to have this necklace. It even perfectly matched the earrings I happened to have put on that morning. There was no doubt that I would own this beauty, but the price, the price forced me to put it back and walk away only to return to it and put it back on, never to be removed as I walked out of the store with the bargain of the century. I bartered with myself and remembered that if I was on the Vineyard I would have allowed myself this luxury! And so I knew it would be mine!! I was on staycation afterall!! Little did I know I would fall under the "family and friends" plan of my dear friend Mary. That and the fact that is WAS 20% off Ladies night!! Bargain! And so I sit here and think about how elegant I felt biking home with this gorgeous piece of art hanging around my neck. Sheer indulgence!! I was glowing in the day, my necklace and laughing at my basket stock full of local eggs the color of a rainbow, fresh local produce complete with the luscious green Kale sticking out the top.
I wish my life felt this way everyday. It does not. Just knowing it could makes it all seem simply wonderful. So I came home and created the most beautiful meal with all of my fabulous produce and I sit here, the perfect end to the second half of a perfect summer day sipping pinot grigio and writing it all down. It doesn't get any better that this...does it?
And yet it ends...as the 14 year old boys enter my house brimming with testosterone and brace myself for the sleep over and try not to worry that Emma is out there with my car at the movies and dinner with a friend!! And although I find myself feeling content at the moment...I am also reminded of long summer nights and yearn for that freedom once again. In the meantime...the wine tastes just fine!! Anyone wanna join me?
Just thinking.....
