…and the livin’ is easy. So goes the song, and so goes life here in South Texas. June has come, but so far, the extreme heat has been delayed and drought has been mitigated. Instead, we’ve developed a rather sultry, somewhat tropical climate — exactly what the famous song always brings to mind. Regular rains and daily showers have replenished the acquifer, rolled back some watering restrictions, and rendered lawns and gardens lush for the first time in recent memory. It is wonderful.

     Our grass is green, our garden is producing, and summertime crops are already coming in: tomatoes, onions, green beans, potatoes, and of course, all the herbs right outside my patio doors. I have beautiful flowers — wildflowers, roses, and sunflowers — in the house all the time, and the bougainvillea are an explosion around the pool. If it weren’t for the chiggers and the mosquitoes, we’d have it made in the shade! Bless my husband, the Johnny Appleseed of all this beauty and abundance. The garden in full bloom lifts my spirits and makes me smile.

     It also makes me feel like “livin’ easy” and enjoying a time out, and I’m doing exactly that. I’m taking these June days slowly, recuperating from the very busy last few months of travel, houseguests, home repairs, and more houseguests. We aren’t planning anymore big trips this year, only perhaps a couple days in “the Big Easy” in July for our anniversary. It is so nice to wake up in the morning and realize that the day is mine more or less to do as I please. That is what I really call livin’ easy.

     As Melissa Kirsch wrote recently in The New York Times (“The Morning,” June 3, 2023), “Setting intentions for summer is the low-stress, seasonal version of New Year’s Resolutions.” In her article, Kirsch introduces the term “JOMO” (the joy of missing out) as the perfect antidote to the anxiety-inducing “FOMO” (fear of missing out). I happily learned about the joy of missing out during the pandemic, and so now, employing those same skills of carefree carelessness, I am determined to use this summer to sit and ruminate rather than run myself ragged.

     I do have a few things to think about, especially regarding my art quilting. I had already decided earlier after an exceptionally busy 2022, filled with exhibitions and a gallery representation, to take some time off to explore where I might be headed next in my creative life. This entails not only contemplation, but also a good bit of research about techniques and some serious self-criticism of my own work. My goal going forward is to do projects that challenge and excite me, not just those geared toward entry into specific shows and exhibitions. I want to establish my own distinctive style building on the skills and abilities that I recognize as my strengths, while also finding new inspirations to propel me into an expanded creative zone. 

     Closely related to all this is my website, where I also have some re-imagining to do. www.thenarrativethread.com is important to me, because it intertwines the “threads” of my art with the “threads” of my life, as stated on the Home page. I am a writer, first and foremost — have been for almost all my life — and I am committed to the discipline of posting regular essays (twice a month) in the Journal. But I really need to update the website as a whole, particularly the Gallery of my art quilts, to better showcase my recent fabric arts to which I devote so much time and attention. That means I have to do some “studying up” to improve my technical site management skills. Time and patience, peace and quiet — more contemplation.

     I have a few other “meditative projects” underway for the summer, as well. I’m also in the process of updating and reorganizing all my hundreds (yes, literally hundreds) of favorite recipes. My son had begun collecting family favorites into a small cookbook years ago and he even put out a couple new editions over time. But since that last “new edition” so long ago, I have attended the CIA in San Antonio, taken specialty cooking classes under the tutelage of some famous chefs, and come a long way myself as a home cook. Our family tastes have changed, and so have modern attitudes toward fresh ingredients and home entertaining. Even recipes get out-of-date, you know, and I now have stacks of new favorites in a messy pile at the end of my kitchen counter. They have to be organized and collected into a new, current version of our cookbook, and that entails editing the old versions in a data base while also adding new entries. Time and patience, peace and quiet …

     Finally, I am also currently bringing our travel scrapbook up to date. Since we hardly went anywhere at all during the pandemic, you would think I would have had plenty of time to catch up through all the pre-Covid trips foreign and domestic, but somehow all my attention shifted to daily activities at home rather than memories of excursions far away. Happily, we are now going out and about again, and I am allowing myself the luxury of reliving the joys of past destinations while also contemplating new ones. Scrapbooking is a fun hobby, and a travel scrapbook is an especially appealing diversion in an “easy-livin’” summer.

     Hope you find some projects you can tackle this summer without having to break a sweat. After all, the livin’ is supposed to be easy.