Finding Our Way in the Mid-Summer

With a dash of Steinbeck and Brené Brown

Late yesterday, heat still simmered, and humidity bubbled, but we were visited by an enchanting breeze. It swayed the birch trees, spinning their leaves, and renewed us with its kiss. It was the first time in two months the black flies and mosquitoes were not an issue. And the first summer evening when it was comfortable enough to sit outside.

Before Emily’s injury and subsequent surgery, we would take two walks a day. The first, in the early morning, was five miles. The second, late in the afternoon, was between three and four miles. Always with a coating of bug spray on. But now that it’s only Samwise and me, we walk but once a day, in the morning. It’s usually three miles. We have had to find creative ways to mingle with nature.

Sitting out back in one of my Adirondack chairs, I watched Emily sniff the air, casting that black snout for the flecks of magic were carried by that July breeze. Her eyes nearly closed, the way yours or mine would when we smell something heaven-sent. Her ey…