I missed it!

I just now realized that I missed the first day of summer! How could I? As long as I can remember, I loved that day. As a child at home, I knew on that day I'd have even longer to play outdoors down in the woods at the creek or lying in the grass reading a book, and later in the evening ~ running around in the fields catching lightening bugs, playing blind man's bluff (but very carefully, because there really were bluffs in the woods behind our home), listening to the whip-poor-wills calling, the hoot owls hooting, and the nearby creek rushing across the rocks and around all the nooks and crannies that it had carved out over the centuries. Mama and Daddy usually had company several evenings a week, year round, but especially in the summertime (if we weren't out visiting somewhere) and everyone would be sitting outside on lawn chairs or on flipped over 5 gallon buckets. They would be playing an instrument, singing, humming, or tapping their toes. You'd hear old time gospel music and ballads of the mountains. I miss that immensely. I didn't realize just how much until I started writing this post. So, not only did I miss the first day of summer this year, I miss the neighborly gatherings, the informal music and singing, the laughter ringing out across the holler... Maybe that's why I feel so strongly about taking next month off. I will still blog a few times, make a few things to sell, but for the most part, I will be here at home, doing this and that for my family and my home.