Good Bye, Summer.

It feels necessary to officially say good bye to summer. To make this line in the sand, and cross over to fall. Last night I found myself in flip flops and freezing while hurrying across the Target parking lot to get into my warm car, away from the wind that often shows up with October. And it was in this moment I realized how I have been holding onto summer for as long as I could. Holding onto it even though night starts at 6:30 now, and yellow leaves scatter the ground, and window frost greets me in the morning. The reality is that this has been the hardest summer to say good bye to. Spring was cold and long, with traces of winter still, and summer was wet and mild. I feel like summer was never truly here. I guess I'm just still holding onto the idea of pool side, popsicle full, and bike ride weekends in the hot sun… so officially, this is where you and I part ways, Summer. Or at least the idea of you must go. But first, one last moment from this past August, when the concrete was hot and the nights long - from the biggest rodeo in Kansas and a parade to go with it.

A few more posts with photographs scattered from our trip to Kansas: here and here. 

Study It, Love It, Stay Close To It

Kansas was good for me. It took an otherwise fast paced girl and put her in a slowed down state. The outdoors can do that to you, and I am forever grateful for its hold on me...

I can't stop thinking about this quote by Frank Lloyd Wright: "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." I love that those words come from one of the most famous architects and interior designers of his time. Not a farmer. Not a cowboy. But an architect. I think he was onto something--that true ability to hone in on one's creativity has its roots in nature. At least, it does for me. Entirely. The more I am in the great outdoors, the more I am able to see creativity indoors. Creative or not, wide open space clears the mind, sorting out all that gunk and making room to focus on what is at the core. Have you ever had a sinus infection? They are the worst. Clarity fogs, sharpness slugs, and joy dissipates in light of annoying stuffed up gunk. We get like that in life. We get stuffed up, like a sinus infection, and our joyful, sharp, clarity of mind becomes hard to grasp. We get run down. We burn out. Yet the cure? Wide open space. Time outdoors. The sky above, grass below, the wildness of nature and all her living beings. I had that clarity these past few days. And I want to hold on to it, hold on as tight as I can.