“We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive …”
~Niall Williams, History of the Rain
My first thought when I saw these 30 photos, all compiled into one place was that it didn’t look at all like COVID. There are people (friends Charlie on the 3rd and Deena on the 24th) who aren’t in my family bubble up close (unmasked). There’s evidence of a long-awaited haircut (on the 4th), multiple trips to the library, two coffee dates (one with with me and a book on the 9th and another with Deena on the 24th), and a trip to the pool with Sam (on the 25th). but the rest of the month, it’s me … at home with a book, a messy desk, knitting, quilting … or outside for a walk … or simply admiring the butterfly bush in our front yard (Marc gave it a major haircut in April and it’s fabulous right now … I only hope we see butterflies – that’s a big bumblebee on the 26th).
In other words, most of June didn’t really look that different from the months before, but it sure did feel different. Right now, I’m enjoying the freedom to know I could be doing more … and choosing not to.
A Gratitude List: my journaling practice, plenty of rain, visiting the library, seeing friends again!
Life Giving: Sunday mornings, porch time, a haircut, a brow wax/dye (oh my goodness, I had no idea how much I missed that little bit of self-care)
Life Draining: traffic!
A (short) Happy List:
- engaging about books and knitting on Instagram
- summer knitting
- weekly manicures (yep, still doing them … just having other things to include in my daily photo collage)
- my reading journal (stay tuned – mid-year update coming next week)
- a sleepover with Sam
- wearing lipstick outside the house
How about you … what surprised you about June?
mere-et-filles 
I have a June reflection on my list for later today. Having that heat wave at the end of June has really thrown me off my game. While you are venturing back into the world, it feels like you are taking it at a good pace.
Flowers! “Messy” desks! Friends! Starbucks! Books! Knitting! Sewing! We speak the same love language, Mary.
Spending so much time outside and really enjoying it was a suprising part about June for me. I know sun exposure isn’t always a good thing, but I haven’t been this tan since 1997, ha. And I’ve loved watching 2/3 of my children spend their mornings in the chicken coops, herding the hens — just for fun.
Here’s to a wonderful July! I can’t wait to read your mid-year reading update 🙂
June doesn’t really look like COVID, and it’s gradually not feeling like it either. The same things are still important – family, friends, books, knitting, and being out in nature, but now we get to be up close and personal with all of them!
What a lovely month you had! And it always amazes me how much farther behind we are than you… my butterfly bush has a promise of blooms, but none are open yet! (But my Lamb’s Ear… it is Bee Haven!) My good find in June was a book group that is going to focus on being better allies… and we have all decided to continue on after we are finished with Good Talk in two weeks!
What surprised me the most? That it’s over already! I’m fully convinced that we skipped a week of it somewhere in the middle. But like you, I also found that June had some moment of normalcy — seeing friends outside our bubble without masks, going into stores I haven’t been to in a long time, etc. I hope we have more of that in July!
June definitely felt different and GOOD in so many ways. Your butterfly bush is way ahead of ours, we barely even had buds on ours yet.
I’m surprised that it is already July! I enjoy that we are slowly getting out and meeting friends for lunch or coffee once again. It seems like we are all a bit out of practice at socializing, but what is good is that we all seem more attentive to each other and the world around us. Sadly, COVID still rages in other parts of the world. A friend of mine lost her brother to COVID last week, he lives in Pakistan and her family there haven’t been able to receive the vaccine yet. So, although I’m grateful for things getting better here, I hold other parts of the world in my heart and pray they may benefit from the vaccine as we have.
What a delightful June! Curious how you liked Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book?! I delighted in the dynamics between grandmother and granddaughter. Reading it in a Scandi community on the lake among little Swedish ‘stugas’ made it feel just right. (And I wonder how much that influenced my warmth for it. Certainly didn’t hurt!)
Surpised that June is already over and how pre-pandemic everything seems to be. I still find myself asking what year are we in . . .
“Could be doing more, but choosing not to” may become my mantra now that things have opened up. I’ve had a few days in the last few weeks that were far too busy, and really don’t want to go back there.