SUMMER MEME:
As seen at St. Casserole's and therefore tagged!

1. What first tells you Summer is here?
Heat, humidity and long summer evenings!

2. Name 5 of your distinctly Summer habits or customs?
*Grilling food
*Watering herb garden and flower beds, even trees when there's a drought
*Sitting on the front porch in my rocker/on the back patio watching the sunsets
or the starry skies
*Vacation - either to my sister's in IL/WI or someplace else
*Deadheading my red geraniums and refilling the hummingbird nectar



3. What is your favorite smell of summer?
The scent of rain before the approaching storm.

4. What is your favorite taste of summer?
Fresh raspberries and peaches, not necessarily together!

5. Favorite Summer memory?
Spending the summer with my Grandma in 1983 while interning at a church two
towns over in Switzerland. It was an amazing summer and I just loved it (except
for preaching in German!) Went on a mission trip to an Alp where we finished
laying a waterline from a glacier to a meadow where the cows could get water
the flowed into an old bathtub. It was an hour's hike just to the worksite,
pickaxing into the granite mountain, sandwiches and tea w/siesta on the alp
and viewing the vistas. Went to Geneva, Basel, Zurich, local Fest, saw my
cousins and Aunts and Uncles. One morning, my great-aunt called and invited us
on a day trip. About an hour and a half later, my great-Uncle (who was a truck
driver), my great-Aunt, (probably 76-78 years old) and my Grandma at 84 and I
went on a lovely ride over the St. Gotthard pass (where we ate a picnic lunch
at the side of the road) My Great-aunt had packed a basket full of sandwiches,
fruit, chocolate, and red wine - complete with real glasses!) We drove over
several passes that day including the Susten/Furka. It was a lovely, wonderful
gorgeous summer day in good company!

6. Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?
Neither. I prefer it in the 70's-50's. I don't handle heat very well nor
the extreme cold. Although with the cold, you can bundle up and also stay
indoors where it's heated!

7. What books do you plan to read for the season?
Three Cups of Tea, Pawley's Island, Anne LaMott's Third One in Travelling
Mercies, Wangerin's Father and Son

8. How does Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an allay?
Sometimes it gives me breathing room and space. Once VBS is done, although
this year it's the end of July :( , I seem to enjoy a slower pace.
Unfortunately there's still a sermon to write most every week and planning
for the fall. All in all, it's an allay. Perhaps, the extended daylight
and all things green and growing inspire me more than the grey, cold and
drab.

If you read this, consider yourself tagged! Enjoy your summer!