Please post the link to your weekly Slice of Life in the comments to this post.
Remember, you may also complete the weekly Slice of Life in your Writer's Notebook.
"It's popsicle season," I declared last Sunday afternoon in the frozen food section as the household appetites allowed this trio of assorted boxes into the grocery cart. Growing up in a farmhouse with ceiling fans, popsicles have become a bastion of summer days. The "Creamy Coconut" bars, complete with real coconut shavings, are a home run; they are quite the pleasant surprise, as I was not interested in any plastic, artificial, or otherwise 'gross' taste.
"I'm a good packer," is often gleefully uttered during the final preparations for my family's car trips that are lengthy enough, over due enough, or stressful enough to require ample "gear" (ie: multiple overnight bags, carefully wrapped Christmas presents, camping coolers, a collection of suitcases, etc). Envision a semi-circle of dufflebags, odds n' ends, and tangible tension sitting in the driveway, waiting to find their proper, most efficient place in the trunk; five people's apparent necessities are now the only thing standing between us and the three-, six- or fourteen-hour drive to our destination and the family members we don't get to see enough. I enjoy precisely packing the back of the SUV with the menagerie of luggage - like a complex Jenga game on wheels.
The Hoberman Sphere was snugly packed after being sold on Amazon. Four little "pockets of air," which came with some random shipment, now were secured to the box's three sides and on the bottom to cushion the toy, and a "guard rail" of packing tape kept the rainbow sphere from haphazardly shifting around in the only box I could find to fit the novelty that expands from nine and a half inches to over thirty inches in diameter. And, getting the brightly colored parcel packed up so cleverly and reliably provided me a "To Do" list item I could happily check off at 6:30 a.m.
Sometimes, I see photos perfectly framed as I walk or drive along. I often have to stop in my tracks, turn around, and find that picture my mind instantly agreed with.
This is Tuesday afternoon on my way home from school. I saw the frame created by the leaf-entwined fence post and the jutting gray-white stalks yet to recuperate from the fall and winter and come again this spring; the golden clusters, standing water, cloud-dotted powder blue sky, and green reemerging in full force feel worthy of sharing.
An update on the television sabbatical:
This week, the TV hasn't been constant chattering background noise because turning on the television has not been the first thing I do when I come in the house. Instead, the whoosh of passing cars on a wet street, heavy rustling breeze, birds outside, and the hum of a fan (and the click of the keyboard...) are the audible, peaceful evening sounds.
I have consciously watched three shows this week; each ranged between an hour and two hours long. And, then, the TV went back off :-). A favorite board game was enjoyed and I've finished two books as hours have been spent this week reading in the evening, curled up in an arm chair in the newly rearranged living room; the couch and chairs now face each other rather than the TV set. Full-speed ahead with "Powering off the TV, Empowering Myself - Summer 2011".