Gayle Tales: July 2013

Monday, July 29, 2013

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.

~Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

Some people find God in the beauty of the world around them.

It brings peace to their souls.

Adam found the perfect spot on top of the boathouse this morning with his Bible and his journal.

He wasn't alone.

There are way too few times like these in our days!

Friday, July 19, 2013

I haven't written in a while.

It's summer.

You probably think I'm having so much fun and doing all kinds of summer activities that I don't have time to blog.

The truth is, I hate summer. It's my least favorite season.

I truly detest hot, humid weather. And this summer has been nothing but hot and humid. And wet. And mosquitoey. Trapped inside the house without being able to open the windows. A beautiful garden in my yard that I can only enjoy through my kitchen window.

I think I was actually getting into a funk for a while until I had a talk with myself and snapped myself out of it.

I didn't always feel this way. I used to love summer. There were endless days of laying in the sun by the lake, camping with my cousins, swimming, drive-in movies, tennis, naps in the afternoon after staying up until the wee hours of the morning engrossed in a good book, daydreaming, riding my bike everywhere...I remember one summer day when I sat and sketched a picture of my foot for hours and enjoyed every minute of it!

Yesterday I went to the beach with my daughter, Annie. As I floated in the cool water of the ocean on a day that reached 100 degrees inland, I watched the little ones playing in the sand. I watched the teens frolicking in the water. I watched the lovers kissing.

I was wearing a bikini I bought about ten years ago - the first time I have worn it in public since then. My stomach's not flat anymore, but I didn't care. It felt good. I wasn't able to read my iPad in the sun, so I just lay there listening to other people's conversations, listening to the water rush against the shore, feeling the intense heat of the sun on my skin, feeling the cool breeze come along to cool it off.

When we left the beach later in the afternoon, I felt renewed. Somehow it had brought me back in time to the summer days that I loved. I left the beach with a burn on my back, a tan on my stomach and a much better attitude!

The heat wave will pass. I have vacation to look forward to. Fall clothes are out already in the stores. I'll get through it.

Because the best thing about summer is it brings in the fall!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Look Who's Twenty-One!

It's hard to believe.

My daughter, Kerry, turned 21 yesterday!

We went to Burlington to celebrate with her. (Annie had to work so she couldn't be with us.)

Kerry chose to go to a restaurant in Winooski called "Our House".

When the waitress came to take our drink orders, we told her it was Kerry's 21st birthday. She carded Kerry when she ordered a raspberry margherita.

I think the waitress felt honored to deliver her first legal drink.

When I saw Adam and Kerry toasting with alcoholic beverages, I couldn't help remember when they were both so excited to drink out of the "Chip" cups after going to see Beauty and the Beast on ice!