Friday Five: God Days of Summer

Presbyterian Gal says: "It’s August. An oppressively hot and humid month where many of us live.I remember the Al Pacino movie though not much about the plot. Just that it was very, very hot. And he had giant sweat stains on his shirt.As I pass through this year’s dog days in my felon ridden neighborhood (OK, just two housefuls. But isn’t that enough?), I am trying to focus on the blessings apparent around me, past and present, that I might not notice, necessarily. In that spirit, this week’s Friday Five goes thusly:"

1. What is your sweetest summer memory from childhood? Did it involve watermelon or hand cranked ice cream? Or perhaps a teen summer romance. Which stands out for you? My best summer memory involves a bike, a park, freedom and solitude. It was the first summer I was allowed to ride away on my own...maybe fourteen. I would ride to Eagle Point Park, a beautiful place, up on the river bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright and built by the WPA, this place was (and still is) a treasure. My favorite spots were the fire circles that sat at the top of the bluffs. I'd pack a lunch and my journal and bike off for the afternoon. It was a long trek, the last bit a steep uphill climb, but worth every bit. I could be there with the city and the river beneath me to dream my dreams and have peace in my soul. I would journal write poems and wonder about all manner of things. The park continued to be my refuge and favorite writing place as long as lived in my home town, but that first summer of freedom was magic.

2. Describe your all time favorite piece of summer clothing. The one thing you could put on in the summer that would seem to insure a cooler, more excellent day. I love skirts! Along the way at any given time I always have at least one that meets this criteria. Light and floaty, or crisp and straight, depending on my mood. Gotta have my summer skirts.

3. What summer food fills your mouth with delight and whose flavor stays happily with you long after eaten? That would have to be watermelon. With salt. Just the smell makes me swoon.

4. Tell us about the summer vacation or holiday that holds your dearest memory. I am not a big summer vacation person. I just realized this. I go to summer from the cold. My best vacation memories therefore are of my yoga retreats in Mexico taken in February and March when I found deeply needed respite from cold and snow. And most recently a lovely cruise to Cozumel with some fantastic women! I do dearly love the Badlands though, and if I were to go hang somewhere in summer, that might be a place. I think I otherwise on vacation, I tend to go to people rather than places.

5. Have you had any experience(s) this summer that has drawn you closer to God or perhaps shown you His wonder in a new way? Oh a definite yes on this one! The whole experience with L, which I have been posting about here since last Fall, has been a God experience for me. It was clearly God who called me to go back to see him after that first Bible study meeting, baptising him was truly a God-moment, and now seeing God's hand at work as he struggles since being back in jail has given me an opportunity to reflect on how there truly is no separating us from this sweeping unconditional love of God. It has also provided me with yet another chance to see God's love made manifest in good and wonderful people. Once again, belonging to this blog ring has been an experience of being church in a transformative way as I experience your care and support for me and for L. The healing in my relationship with XDO that is slowing unfolding is another place where God is manifesting God's unceasing care.

Bonus question: When it is really hot, humid and uncomfortable, what do you do to refresh and renew body and spirit? By way of telling on myself, I have to say, I love this weather! One of my friends just got back from St. Louis and she says they call it "the weather you wear." I love that! I just groove on this steamy stuff. As I said in a post not long ago, the bright white days and gauzy nights....I think it's partly because it does take me back to childhood...but anyway...even loving it as I do, sometimes even I need to refresh! Then there is nothing like a good book, a great big glass of iced tea and the porch swing on my big screen porch where even on the hottest day, the ceiling fan can get a breeze going and cool me off. Ahhhh......