a novel

Summer 2015 - a time to be young, warm, loved and tan Camping twice in May  - Western VA mountains with Aly, Sam, Melody, Matt Z, my Matt, and Crystal, a return to early spring, cooking every meal over the fire, doing ALL the dishes  - Ocean front camping with Tania and Rachel, skinny dipping in the Chesapeake Bay, board games, sandy campsites, cider Welcoming Trudeau! Bronchitis the first week of June Working the fairs and festivals - interactions with co-workers and vendors, cramming all the outreach materials into my car, loving my job, never having a weekend free without plans Learning the heat of a true Virginia summer - the heat rash on my chest that just wont go away, falling in love with the AC in my little red two door car, remembering the joy of a cold shower, prioritizing swimming (and being so thankful for friends with pools, a YMCA membership, and a river to swim in) A glorious celebration of turning 24 - taking the actual day off work for Hibach...

My reset season is always summer time. Usually I also have something new to look forward to for the end of August - a new school year, a new program, a move to a new city. In January I struggle to wrap my head around the concept of "new year," but it is summer when I actually experience new. This year August wont bring much that is new into my schedule, but I feel the reset season coming on anyway. It's the same job from the spring, the same city I moved to almost a year ago, the same communities and friendships I've been building on this year, the same beau, etc. But I am feeling myself fill with the annual sense of anticipation,  the prayerful thoughtfulness of preparing for uncertainties to come, the contentment from knowing that the path ahead is the right one for me. Perhaps it has to do with how summer makes my soul sing. The warmth, the day light, the time with people make my heart glow. And I somehow manage to reconnect with the Bekah I want to be. Perha...