Burning the Summer Days Out: Finding Home Vol 2.1
September always feels like the start of a new year. I guess it is, in some ways, when your life is pretty tied to the academic calendar. As the final days of August drift into the old year, we find ourselves trying to squeeze in those last few summer adventures.
Last Saturday night, we went to Waterfire. It's a Providence tradtion... throughout the summer and all the way until later fall, just before it's too cold to enjoy, bonfires are lit along the Woonasquatucket River that cuts through downtown Providence. The streets are full of crafters, food and drink sellers, and the occasional live performers. It's simple, but it feels like summer isn't done until you take in at least one.
So we decided last minute to go, headed to the city, parked and walked down to the river just in time to see the last few bonfires lit. The volunteers floated by on a gondola helmed by a fire juggler, and one of them reached a torch to each pile of wood, letting them catch fire one by one. We sat for a while to feel the heat on our faces, while Aretha Franklin's voice sang out from the speakers, commanding our R-E-S-P-E-C-T from beyond this life.
After that, we meandered through the crowd, checked out craft booths, watched a fascinating glass blowing demo, and pulled together our dollars to get a couple of Del's.
(Pro-tip: When it comes to this Rhode Island summer institution, the original lemonade > watermelon. I can officially confirm this.)
And then... we went home.
It was the end of a stressful few weeks. Nothing majorly bad happened. But a culmination of small stresses piled up and left me wound up in knots, so much that pressing through the big crowd down to the river basin sounded exhausting. And yet, just a taste of Waterfire got me thinking... here I am, ending my fifth summer in New England.
I've been here long enough to have summer tradtions. I've been here long enough that a taste of Waterfire is enough, that I know it'll still be here next year, a summer constant, burning the short, humid evenings out.
***
In moments like these, I feel at home. I've even wondered if Finding Home is still an appropriate title for this letter, because most days, I think I've nearly found it. I recently wrote on my blog about this summer of hospitality, realizing I'm comfortable enough in my place to let others in.
Then there are moments like today when I stumbled upon an article about a beautiful coffee shop concept in Orlando that I somehow never once visited. After reading the story of CREDO and the good they're doing, I started looking at a map of city streets to get an idea of where they were. You know, for reference next time I visit.
College Park. Audubon Park. Edgewater. Orange Blossom Trail. John Young Parkway. My eyes float over those names. The mental map and landmarks form in my head. They are a different kind of familiar, like the names of childhood classmates, or cousins I haven't seen in years.
It was the closest I've felt to homesick in a while.
***
September is a new year. Summer flames out. Soon autumn chill will settle in, and there will be fresh apples, warm sweaters, and the friendly golden slant of light I love. Even now, I occasionally see small trees melting into their colors, a few fiery leaves waving.
It's my favorite season. It always has been. But can I share a secret?
I'm always just a little bit hesitant to let summer go. The dense greens on the side of every road, the longer and lazier days, and the sound of crickets outside an open window at night...
Summer feels a lot like home.
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Well, I thought I wasn’t going to write about literal home that much anymore, but… here we are! I asked for prompts on Instagram, so thanks Nicole and Kari for asking to hear about Waterfire and adventures. It jump started my writer's blockage and I am grateful.
And to honor my dear coffee buddy Sheila who suggested I write about the return of pumpkin spice lattes… here’s a fun autumnal Starbucks hack for y’all.
Misto (half brewed coffee/half steamed milk) + pumpkin spice flavor. Get it with anniversary blend for the perfect less sweet / more spice balance. Not as sweet, it might impress a barista, and you save, like, a couple dollars. You're welcome. ;)
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THINGS I LOVED IN AUGUST
750 Words - I’m trying to develop a new discipline I call the Daily Brain Dump, in which I write at least 750 words of whatever crap is swimming around in my head that day. This website helps. Sure, it costs $5 a month, but that’s a small investment to make when you can get cute animal badges for writing every day.
NEEDTOBREATHE and Johnnyswim in Boston - Also a fun summer adventure. Last minute concert tickets are always a solid work perk. Seeing NTB never gets old, and I believe the Johnnyswim hype. For your listening pleasure, here's NTB's newest EP and some Johnnyswim on Spotify.
More Ear Candy: The New Respects' Before the Sun Goes Down is 🔥. Death Cab for Cutie is back and my inner early '00s emo kid is pleased. Also, somehow Carly Rae Jepsen's 2015 album Emotion became the Yokel summer pop jam. Not mad about it.
Ms. Marvel - I always want to read comics in the summer. I rarely meet that goal. But my sister left me a stack of Ms. Marvel trades when she last came to visit, and they are SUPER (lol) delightful. I will henceforth and forever refer to Loki as "hipster viking" now. (Dear Marvel TV: Can Kamala be in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Plz and thank you.)
Making It - Speaking of TV… Leslie and Ron— I mean, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman in a competition show where everybody makes crafts and corny puns and is nice to each other? I am here for it.
THINGS I WROTE IN AUGUST
We're still plugging away at Culture Making in the Rabbit Reads Book Group! Here's the handy index page where you can read all the posts. Scroll down to the reading schedule and click the link for each week. Two more weeks to go! Tomorrow I'm gonna cram for the Week 5 blog post. 🙈
And over at CCM Magazine, I did a small interview with Dawn Michele from Fireflight. Fun fact: she hails from Eustis, a neighbor to my Central Florida hometown. I used to see posters for their band hanging around my community college. So that's fun.
Other than that... lots of Daily Brain Dumps, and thiiiiiiiiiinking about if I want to join Write 31 Days this year. I don't know yet if that looks like 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, or something more specific, but either way, keep an eye to my blog if that's your thing.
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Woohoo! The first official full edition of the newly rebooted Finding Home! Thanks for reading, friends. Feel free to hit reply for commentary or just to say hello. You can also follow me on Instagram and Twitter if you like.
Happy fall! 💛 We all know what's next, right?
~Jen // jenroseyokel.com