Summer is a wrap

This summer in the USA bumps into fall as quickly as it began. It was bookended by the magical wedding of a sweet young woman I have known for most of her life, and the engagement of her spicy little sister. I'm so happy for them both.

In between, The Skipper and I bought a car and did our best to drive the wheels right off of it. Louisa and I had an epic Mama/Daughter weekend in Ashland, OR. John and I took trips from Washington to Ohio to visit family, a trip to Alaska to realize my lifelong dream of seeing the northern lights, and back to Washington to get my mom settled into a lovely new apartment and get her house ready to sell. In the midst of all that, I knitted five pairs of socks, canned dozens of jars of California apricots and Washington blackberries, and listened to countless podcasts and audiobooks. And I painted and laughed with my little sister.

The summer has been a total whirlwind to say the least. Four months, and yet there are family and friends whom we didn't get to see. Next time, I'm coming for you guys if we have to meet at a roadside stop for a quick hug at the very least. 

I have learned some big lessons this summer: 

If something doesn't make my life better, I can and should do without it. (I officially broke up with Facebook. Instagram, if you get nasty, I’ll break up with you, too.)  

Family and friends are really what life is all about.The tribe that you can always rely upon–they are pure gold. 

The northern lights are really magnificent, but not as magical as the love of a husband committed to making all of my dreams come true. And by the way, he’s practically always right.

This morning, under rainy fall skies, we pointed our little car south toward Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur, for the next season of sailing. We expect it to take us seven days to get to the boat, and hopefully it will be uneventful. There are rumors of washed out roads and impending tropical storms. So, as usual, it’s rush rush rush. 

Looking toward this season of sailing, my goals are to explore anchorages from my new stand up paddle board, finally enjoy some good fishing, and time with The Skipper.