Tag: summer

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Goodbye Periodicals, Hello Annuals

periodical cicada with red eyes and oranges wings in the green grass.
Periodical Cicada

After an extended heat wave, which seemed unusual for this early in June, I finally felt a cool breeze from the east on my morning walk. Is this heat wave really that unusual for us? I’m sure I could do a search and find out, but I’m really not that curious. It’s been hot and my air conditioning works, thank goodness.

During my walks I have to dodge hundreds of cicadas. It is indeed 2024, time for the 17 year cicadas to come out and play in the Chicagoland area. Their time is coming to an end, however, and it’s been fascinating. We have way more cicadas up our trees and in our yards than we did 17 years ago.

And now? I have spotted 3–not hundreds, just 3–annual cicadas. I think I heard them singing in the trees yesterday, too. Not specifically those three; all the others I didn’t spot! Their song is more familiar than the harsh, deafening sound of the periodical cicadas.

Some of you may have noticed that my writing has been more periodical than annual; I haven’t writing anything since 2020. My last blog post in 2021 wasn’t even words; it was all photos! My draft folder doesn’t even have anything more recent.

Teaching took over writing. I just finished my third year of teaching second grade and will continue teaching in August. Where I used to follow bloggers, I now follow teachers. I used to obsess over my website and my next blog post; now I obsess over behavior management and lesson plans.

Life changes.

But during my morning walk (which I am now able to do again because summer!) I started to think about writing. I thought…I don’t have to obsess about that next blog post. Perhaps I could just jot down some thoughts. It’s okay if it’s not great reading material. It’s okay if NO ONE reads my posts. Perhaps, for the summer, I will put down the chalk (that is, a dry erase marker) and pick up a pen (that is, type on a keyboard).

I rather like that idea.

Green and black annual cicada
Annual Cicada
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Three Months of Summer

As my bike bounced down the gravel road with beach cottages on each side, I felt like the ultimate tourist. With my huge sun hat on my head and a bag over my shoulder filled with a beach towel and a book, I had everything I needed. Well, almost everything. A basket in front of my bike filled with baguettes and cheese would have been nice. I parked my bike at the top of the stairway and made my way down the bluff to meet my family on the beach for another beautiful day full of sunshine and swimming.

Sunflower summer vacation

As school begins and fall approaches, I always feel as though summer flew by and it wasn’t nearly long enough. But when I look back at all the fun things we did, I realize that we packed a lot of activity into those three short months. In June, we celebrated Ed’s 50th birthday party with a big bash in our back yard. Swim team started for both Lily and Emmy. I helped lead Vacation Bible School at our church and taught one of the preschool groups. And we drove up to Madison, Wisconsin to see my sister’s painting and drawing exhibition in the student union at the University of Wisconsin.

Heather's exhibit

In July, Lily had her own artwork on display though a community outreach program in our school district. Several local businesses displayed various student artwork this summer, and Lily’s painting was on the wall at Dunkin’ Donuts. July is when we had our week at the beach, and we also celebrated Emmy’s 8th birthday!

Lily's artAugust was not quite as busy, and the girls and I took advantage of our lazy summer days by going to the pool, visiting Brookfield Zoo and Wagner Farm in Glenview. It was also the month of preparing for school. Both Lily and Emmy cleaned their rooms (which were disasters!) and I ordered each of them a small writing desk. They now have their own private space to do their homework!

How did you spend your summer vacation? Link up your summer posts here and be sure to visit all our Spinners!


NEXT WEEK: This prompt may be a stretch, but next week on Thursday is National Eat an Apple Day and Apple Dumpling Day. Saturday is Johnny Appleseed Day. So your prompt is APPLES. Share a recipe or a time you went apple picking. Perhaps your kids made an apple craft in school. Share it with us! Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? Share some ways you try to stay healthy. Or make up your own way to write about this prompt!

Spin Cycle at Second Blooming
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