mav scb August 11, 2017 I was looking up MAV’s recipe for quick pickles in A Year Between Friends the other day and revisited my August letter to her. August is always a tough month for me. I’m not a summer person, and by this time of the year, the initial joy of freedom from routine, long days, and sunshine has long worn off. I thought I’d share a portion of it here for those of experiencing the same August fatigue. —SCB August continues to be oppressively hot here. To be frank, I have been feeling anxious for the summer to end. The initial sense of freedom and intimacy that summer vacation brought has since worn off, and my teens seem to take up more and more space in the home. They have become impossibly huge with their long legs draped over the edges of the furniture, leaving a trail of smoothie cups and charger cords and discarded clothing in their wake. I am still getting up early to go on a walk before the heat sets in. I tend to trudge along, head down, lost in thought, but this morning as I passed through an alleyway between two houses, something brought my gaze up. I was greeted by cascading grapes, ripe plums, and dripping blackberry vines intertwined in a bacchanal of overgrowth. It was colorful and abundant anda welcome change of perspective. I saw not just the beauty of summer, but the necessity. Things need to come to full fruit. Here’s to the wonderful abundance that this summer has brought us. With love , SCB Share TWITTER FACEBOOK TUMBLR PINTEREST EMAIL