Summer till I say so

Today, despite still being calendarly summer, it was chilly & that special Portland gray (you know, where it's the same amount of light pretty much all day & you can't tell where under that blanket of clouds the sun actually is).

I figured to combat it I could think of more things I love about summer before the summer truly disappears & I have to admit that it's fall.

Like reading all those poetry books you got during the summer sales in the sun. I love putting on a hat & some sunglasses & lounging in my backyard with a book.

Or making sun tea. I love when it's hot enough to just leave some bags in a huge jar outside all day while you read or run errands & then drinking it over ice. Tons & tons of ice. I'm not supposed to have iced drinks when it's cold, so I try to have as much of it as possible during the summer!

{reading in the sun, pedicured bare feet & sun tea -- the ultimate backyard combination & a regular occurrence when it's warm}

Or drinking toddy -- cold brew is so sweet & has become the epitome of summer coffee for me.

Or eating corn. Piles & piles of sweet corn steamed or grilled.

Or eating figs. I love them just the way they are, but last year the Oregonian ran a choose-yr-own recipe for syrupy roasted figs with cheese & nibbles. It was tacked up on my fridge for a month. Yr welcome.

Or eating zaru soba. When I lived in Wilmington, there was a little noodle shop not too far from my house run by the sweetest couple. In the summer I would go get zaru soba & sit in the park I passed on the way back to my house & eat it in the breezy sunshine.

Or leaving the doors & windows wide open. Ok, so once my neighbors cat got in & ended up firmly entrenched under my bed for a while & there's also the flies that are too stupid to find their way out (has anyone tried the jar or bag of water with a shiny new penny in it trick for keeping them out? Does it work?), but mostly being able to smell the sun warmed grass & garden is worth it.

Or just running around in yr bare feet. Not having to wear socks or shoes is one of the best things about summer. Getting pedicures & showing them off, feeling the clover under yr feet, not having to go to bed in socks or put slippers on before you even touch the floor. Freedom!