Summer Flash Back

Well, I guess the end of July is not the end of Summer, there is still a good 6-7 weeks left but the days are starting to get a little shorter and the plants that looked tropical two weeks ago now look middle-aged and worn out. Falling blooms litter the patio and the basil has gone to seed. I still have time to make pesto though, before the leaves turn yellow and the plant transitions into a dormant state and readies itself for Fall. I have not blogged this Summer, sadly I said I would but I got so busy with work and preparing for school, and just having a carefree Summer. Here are the highlights of Summer in flash back:

Father's Day:
For Father's day I made a key lime pie and we grilled ribs served with slaw, potatoes, fresh corn on the cob and bread: definitively Summer! At the end of the meal we sat and talked on the porch until it was dark outside and we all knew it was time to wind down and get ready for another work week. I came in that night and wrote in my journal:
"A 1000 wonderful dinners...I am lucky."
This was the feeling in which I lived my entire Summer. With each evening grilling out, each churn of homemade ice cream, each perfectly ripe tomato there seemed to be a feeling of impermanence and appreciation, of knowing that these times won't last forever. Not just the good food of Summer but the happy moments that accompany it. Life will change and this era will end, just as Summer comes and goes; the full and lush, long days that seem to last forever are quickly gone and turned to Fall and Winter.

The 4th
We had fireworks and burgers and two churns homemade ice cream. It was nice to know that just about everybody was doing the same thing we were; enjoying a mid-week day off of work with good food and a few fireworks. Fireworks are legal in SC so there are quite a bit to choose from for the after dinner backyard show and my father did not disappoint. We had quite a few old favorites like the parachute fireworks for the kids, and a few screaming meanies followed by a grand finale.

The Beach:
We stayed in a house on the beach with an empty lot behind us with a view of the inlet. It was really beautiful and peaceful to go over the dock and look out on the inlet water. It was so different compared to the ocean which, though beautiful is rather violent, always churning and rumbling with waves beating the shore line smooth. I ate at one restaurant while I was there, Lee's Inlet Kitchen in Murrels Inlet. It has THE BEST clam chowder. It is not a milk based creamy chowder but a tomato based "red inlet style" the menu says. It also has wonderful fresh seafood. The Lee family has owned and operated the restaurant for over 50 years. The Lee family also offers Lee's fishing tours, so much of the fish is caught off the Carolina Coast.

So that leads me back to now, the last few days of July 2006. I am a month from JWU and leaving home again, maybe that is why I feel nostalgic for a Summer that is not even over. Or maybe I know that I am moving into an uncertain future. Afterall, I am about to start something new that I hope will lead me somewhere I want to be and I can't help but wonder...where will I be next Summer?