Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Post #3243: Summer Onset
The California lilacs in and around my yard are in full bloom and buzzing with bees from five in the morning until 9 at night. A sure sign of summer on the horizon even it looks like June-uary might about to roll in for a bit.
These last couple of weeks have been very textile-y as I got my outdoor dye studio set-up last weekend, wove fabric for four tea towels off my loom, and put together a belated Mother’s Day gift (I’m seeing my mom for the first time since February this weekend). I’ve also decided to create my own “Summer Textile School” out of Sweet Georgia and Jane Stafford courses – and scheduled Mondays off work in July and August to bring some focus to advancing my learning this summer. There will be much weaving, dyeing, and probably even some sewing as I allow myself more time and space in the studio over the next sixteen weeks.
Last Friday was a Comfort for the Apocalypse drop and marked issue #20! That is 20 mini-essays and 20 recipes, not to mention all the other bits and pieces I include in the newsletter. Though I keep feeling the pull of a longer/larger writing project, it seems that all I can sustain at the moment is short pieces – so I’m going to keep working on those as I stick with the monthly email and the blog.
Despite not feeling quite ready for the post-vaccination shift, we are starting to open things up around here and will be hosting our first house concert (outside, in the yard) near the end of June. I sent out notification about it today, and have already had quite a bit of response on the RSVPs, which tells me that there is a lot of interest in getting out and about safely in my community. I am hopeful our vax rates will continue to go up as more young people are eligible, and have started hearing about local folks getting their second shots in the next couple of weeks — according to the BC health app we should be eligible for ours by the end of the month!
Despite the re-opening, we intend to spend our summer really close to home because this is our favourite time to be here. In addition to being around for Summer Textile School, we will be hosting house concerts and our annual long weekend party (within all local health authority parameters), and I hope to get out on the water lots and make day trips to see family and friends on the big island. I have one trip away with a friend – to Cortes – which will be a nice scenery break. In the fall Brian and I have a plan to go to Saturna, and we will do some kind of outdoor trip with friends in early September. Our world has gotten a lot closer in the last year and I am perfectly fine with that continuing on, but a few more social occasions are welcome.
The last few days have been pretty warm, making me realize that I might not really be up for running in the summertime afternoons. I’m either going to have to run first thing in the morning, or switch over to more weight lifting, especially if the summer turns out to be hot and smoky as it winds on. For the next couple of weeks I am going to try adding one more strength-training day, with some interspersed cardio to see how that feels – running on dusty roads and trails wasn’t really doing it for me this week. The strength program I follow just switched training block focus and I am feeling really strong in my power lifts again. This summer might be a good time to start pushing those numbers upward again. I am going to start going to the gym one day per week again, just to get access to some of the equipment we don’t have at home.
This weekend we are heading down island to see parents, brother, niece and nephew for the first time since February – which feels like a ridiculously big deal after so many months. I’ve got gifts and baking all ready to go, and tomorrow morning we will be off for an overnight with some errands sandwiched in between the visits. Perhaps this will give me more to write about next week as I am fresh out of new insights this afternoon!
Red Cedar 
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