EARLY SUMMER SOUTHERN MORNING AND READING

Yesterday morning I stepped outside and was transported back to early southern mornings when I was a child.

Suddenly I was ten years old again and could feel my grandparents' home around me.

It was eighty degrees and already just a wee bit sultry.

The birds were singing and the cicadas were waking up.

I felt like nature was serenading me.

At the back of my mind, I could hear my grandmother's voice telling me to come inside where there were fresh pastries from the local bakery waiting for me. 

Is it possible to carry the memory of that taste so many years later?

A few weeks ago Tessa and I were snuggled on the couch where she was reading to me. 

Don't you love how roles get reversed as children grow up?

When we heard a tapping and looked over at the window next to us we saw a rather large hummingbird watching us. 

It persisted for the longest time, and oh how I could feel Katy's presence letting us know she was watching us from heaven. 

Reading to Cary's children was always such a special time for her.

Speaking of reading, I have been doing a lot of it lately.

Last week I read two books by Kristen Hannah: The Four Winds and Firefly Lane.

I enjoyed them so much that I now have three more of her books in my to-be-read stack.

I also read The Porcelain Moon by critically acclaimed author Janie Chang.

Amazon

France, 1918. In the final days of the First World War, a young Chinese woman, Pauline Deng, runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps in the French countryside. In the town of Noyelles-sur-Mer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage, and to end a love affair that can no longer continue. When Camille offers Pauline a room for her stay, the two women become friends. But it’s not long before Pauline uncovers a perilous secret that Camille has been hiding from her. As their dangerous situation escalates, the two women are forced to make a terrible decision that will bind them together for the rest of their lives.

Summer continues to roll on here in the sultry south and as the afternoons continue to be in the nineties I think I will make an effort to get out and enjoy the early mornings more often.

A good book and a rocking chair seem to be a pretty perfect combination.

If you are looking for some instant art for your home you might want to hop over to my Etsy shop to check out beautiful prints from the past.

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