Are you there blog? It's me, Summer.

It's been awhile. There seems to be cobwebs in your hair.
I promise I will come run in and spiff you all up real soon.
I've just got some things to take care of, and you make it very difficult to tend to
when there is no internet connection.

But I still feel our connection.

Be home soon.

August

I haven't been feeling very bloggy lately. My life has been consumed with my new job and various trips out of town. I have not sat still much. Today I realized it was August 25th and it occured to me that August was out the door before I even noticed she was here.

I hiked another 14er on Tuesday. It was alive with wildflowers. Mountains don't let you miss what's going on around you. Maybe that's why I love them so much.

ordinariness

Show me a perfect day

and I'll show you a sky brewing with rain.

Show me your tear stained pillow

and I'll show you skin, wrinkled with laughter.

Show me a road

and I'll show you a mountain to climb.

Nothing stands out without contrast.

In the middle, we have beautiful

ordinariness.

--Summer Richards, August 20, 2008

Ssshhh, I'm mouse hunting.

I'm not sure what I saw really. I was sitting here on the couch when I swore I saw something in the kitchen dart across the room then turn around and dart away. I'm not positive, but there was something. I guessing a mouse. Now I'm sitting here with my feet up on the coach, dog's outside, music is off. Come on out mouse. I need to know if you're here.

You should know, I hate mice. Do not, can not, will not, ever tolerate them. And I am not a mean animal hating person. I don't even kill spiders. But no mouse is welcome here. Where there's one, there's many. I think they're dirty and I want them to stay outside.

If this mouse comes out, then my day just took on a new mission.

What the Folk?

Nothing represents the best parts of summer for me more than a good outdoor summer festival. 2008 Folks Fest proved, again, to be ever so fabulous.







If you can name the person in the top right picture with me then you will officially be cooler than I already think you are!

Morgan you're killing me...

The Olympics are arguably one of my favorite things to watch on television. All that blood, sweat and tears that goes into making it to this point make me feel so much, I don't know, pride I guess. I feel proud when I watch those athletes out there, working their tails off to get to this goal, seeing the emotional and physical hurdles they must jump through. I often get a little choked up, and you know, I'm not a big "cry-er" per se. But I feel it here.

That said, these videos bring me over the edge. Please click on these links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3jfbb172E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V22PebTiik

(Some friends and I were recently trying to name our favorite Olympic athlete. Joan Benoit, the 1984 Olympic marathoner from Maine is my personal fave.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0MjZq2GHVg

Who is your favorite Olympian/Olympic moment?

a bouquet for your day

Who says that pretty flowers have to end up in a trash can?
We have blogs!

It's 830am and I am off to bed. Enjoy your day everyone...I'll be sleeping!

for dad

Walk with me today.

I'm remembering your voice, goofy grin.

Life seems to be about build ups

and let downs,

a heart full of love,

and always goodbyes.

My feet are blistered and calloused now and

I'm remembering many walks together.

I miss you,

but I seem to be healing.

--Summer Richards, 8/9/08

City livin!

Living in the city certainly comes with its ups and downs. There has been a rash of burglaries on our block recently. I even witnessed one last month. Homeless men often go through our dumpsters and there is often fresh graffiti somewhere in the alley.

That said, I am just loving this neighborhood. We have such wonderful neighbors. They are friendly, helpful and they have made us feel so welcome. Tonight many of our neighbors gathered in the alley to have a neighborhood cleanup. We picked up debris, chopped down tenacious weeds and spraypainted over the graffiti tags. It was a great opportunity to get to meet each other and it felt so nice to be forming community with our neighbors.

Craft night!

I absolutely adore craft night. I almost have to force Mike to play, but when he does, he kicks butt!

This is Mike's craft. As you can see, he continues on with the Great Tile Project.


This one is mine. (on canvas)

sleepless

I have switched my schedule to nights. Now my sleep/wake cycles are completely reversed. My body hasn't figured this out yet. Though I've got a dark sheet over my bedroom window, a/c, and earplugs, apparently I do not have the capability of sleeping more than 4 hours. This is day 3 of 4 hours sleep or less. I'm guessing this is probably going to catch up with me.


I'm apparently trying to assuage this inability by watching nonstop episodes of The Office on Netflix.

Today we are off to go camping. "Camping" this weekend means parking at a camping site and sleeping on the perfectly placed futon in my truck, complete with egg crate foam pad, down comforter, and pillows. Here's to hoping for some Zzzz's!

Check out some of these amazing musicians.

I don't have much to write about today (no one needs to hear about my Dante's Inferno day dealing with the DMV) so I thought I'd share some awesome muscians that I've discovered recently. (It's clearly no secret that I have a soft spot for female songwriters.)

Meg Hutchinson....she's one of my faves.
Brandi Carlile..this girl is a total rocker. I saw her open up for the Indigo Girls last year and was blown away!
Antje Duvekot...a Boston singer/songwriter. Sorry I can't find a good youtube clip on her but her song "Long Way" is just so sweet.

Enjoy!

Boggled by blogger

Blogging is a strange new world. It's simple and unique presence has brought so much into my life since I have tapped into it. It's nice to have an outlet, a designated area in which to spend creative energy. And also, there are just so many awfully talented and creative folks out here in bloggy land. (Sometimes I still feel like I'm the new girl in school trying to fit in. )

Thanks fellow bloggers. It's feels good to be out here rockin the creative freedom.

This is it.

I remember a day,
standing at the edge of a mountain
hands opened out, up,
head back in the wind,
swallowing the sky.
This is it.
Yes, this is it.

That dancing,
strong beats carried our feet,
Our mouths turned upward, helpless to stop.
We surrendered,
with harmonic consanance coursing through our bodies.
This is it.
Yes, this is it.

That day, we held each other,
heart to heart, eyes locked,
no words, just knowing
this is it.
Yes, this is it.

Searching, always searching,
peering under rocks,
the green on the other side of the mountain,
the questions that bubble,
the morphing of contentment.
To stop. Look.
Listen.
This is it.
Yes, this is it.

-Summer Richards, 7/27/08

the dog days of summer

It's hot. Really hot. No rain hot. Dry and radiating hot.
Stick out your tongues to cool off-hot!

Hi. My name is Summer and I'm an addict.

I don't usually like to keep sugar cereals in the house. I'm pretty fond of my Special K ripoff "Active Lifestyle...with strawberries". It's just sweet enough for me to enjoy a bowl, but not go back for 3 or 4 more after. This is my problem with sugar cereals. They're like crack to me. I can't get enough.

So Mike went grocery shopping yesterday and came back with this. It was a sweet gesture (no pun intended) because he knows I love it. Lucky Charms is one of the best tasting cereals (?) ever invented. Those little marshmallows make my taste buds sing! But what my wonderful boyfriend does not know is that that scary little leprechaun is now my scary little crack dealer. I can almost here his high pitched girly voice calling from the cupboard.."Summer, isn't it time for your lucky charms?".

Mike will come home and I'll be sitting on the edge of the couch, bug-eyed, gnawing on my chewed fingernails, with empty bowls of cereal all around me. He can't be upset. I'm a slave to the addiction.

tattoo taboo

So one of my good friends is about to be married. She has asked me to be a bridesmaid and I was thrilled; I'm so happy for my friend. The wedding is in October, in Maine. I've already purchased the dress she would like me to wear and she has just informed me today that she would like to request that I wear a shawl. She does not want people to see my tattoo. It is a Catholic wedding and she wants to respect the church, and her family. She does not want the focus of the wedding to be on my back.

Okaaayyyyy. I'm sort of torn right now, like I almost don't know how to feel. I can understand that a bride gets what she wants, its her special day. But I picked this small, subtle tattoo with great thought. I incorporated it into my body and now it is a part of my skin, a symbol that means a lot to me. I can't help but feel hurt that she is requesting me to cover myself up to "show respect". This tattoo is not a symbol of disrespect. Nor was it a hasty decision. I got it when I turned 30 and I am proud of my new feature. I feel judged right now, and maybe I'm just overreacting, but the whole request to cover makes me feel almost shamed.

I guess I need to absorb this new request. I love my friend dearly, and I'm wrestling with this new, unfamiliar dynamic.

Things your mother should never know about...

On Saturday Mike and I headed with our friends, Cameron and Tommy, to Carbondale to hike Snowmass, another one of Colorado's 14ers.

At this point we've hiked a bunch of 14ers, but this one, for me anyway, definitely took the cake. Let's just say that at our after-hike chow down someone actually said, "you know I'm kind of surprised that no one died today." Yeah, it was scary.

The difference in this hike was its amount of vertical. We started at 9000 feet and I want to say that the last 1500-2000 feet involved angles that weren't necessarily 90 degrees, but they sure felt like it much of the time. I had not ever climbed a mountain that required so much technical skill. Supposedly it didn't need actual climbing gear, but there was lots of hands over hands climbing, searching for handholds in the rock.

We were all pretty spread out on the last part of the climb. At one point I'm trying to work my way out of a rock cropping, I'm all alone, and I won't lie to you, pretty freaked out, yet committed. This is the point where the trusty rock that I'm standing on rocked out from under me. Let me just tell you that my life flashed before my eyes here. I got to a safe spot and tried to slow my heart rate down. I looked down and knew that falling was not an option.

It's amazing the inner strength you can find when you need to.







But despite the scary nature of the hike, the views were absolutely breathtaking. Once at the top you know exactly why you made the journey. It felt like we were on top of the world, looking down at a magnifcent earth covered in snowy peaks.



Coming down was a whole other story, but I'll let this picture do the talking. (And if you had a conversation with my quadriceps, they would have a few things to say as well).


All in all, 14ers can be challenging, rewarding and can expose you to very humbling experiences. But, for me, the best part about taking the 14er challenge are the insanely beautiful scenes that they allow you to be a part of. Nature totally rocks!

I went for a walk.

miscellaneous scenes from Denver.