17 Comments

Beautiful.

Summer.

Thank you. AM.

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Perfect 😊

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Have no fear--you have many fans and we won’t quit on you! Keep on being cool and we will follow you through hail and high water.

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Watermelon yes..

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Nice. Just walked in the door from having dropped our son off at college 6 hours away. His empty room makes the dog days even sadder. But in the mailbox was the copy of your book I ordered. Looking forward to reading it! Thanks

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Peaches

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Don’t know what I’d do without a cold slice of watermelon on a 95 degree day in the mountains.

Love the piece of art. Love the colors and textures.

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Sing a song of summertime 🧡

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It’s weird! Despite the heat, I’ve been feeling very creative...But I pick-up my guitar and after 20 minutes, I’m a soggy mess! The Swiss believe AC is unhealthy! Last year, 60,000 people died of heat-related health issues across Europe in the summer. The majority of them were over 80 with other health problems but when are we going to wake up here. The climate has changed. I have to honestly say that I am desperate to have some cooler weather. The romance of summer has gone for me. Px❤️

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Long ago, when you first began this Substack, I thought I'd get in the habit of answering - kind of picking up on the rhythm of what you had written that day, running a counterpoint of my own here in the comments. You had a story that involved the imagery of a (real) bunny and a deer you had encountered one day. Reading it left me breathless, as I realized I had a story of my own - it also involved a bunny and a deer. The significant thing is that my events happened on *exactly the same day* as yours. More surreal than it is funny, how that happens.

Speaking of exact same day stuff. Today,. August 23, in 2019, you (and we) were celebrating the 50 years of marriage for the wonderful Connie and Lloyd Carll. As the Carlls now mark 54 years, I'm thinking of the great words of Connie herself: "The transition from “human doing” to “human being” is freeing and leads to some personal growth and a truer, if humbler, sense of self. " Ever the wise one, Connie wrote what is actually her own tribute. I have a story that involves a dream about Connie Carll I'll have to share sometime, too.

"Don't go back to school". Lord, how that short sentence hit me in the gut. That hole, that feeling, the absolute bel hevi of this time is going to hang around for a while. How to deal with things like that? I'm still using the technique I've learned from one of my heroes. It's a little glimpse into what I call his superpowers: We'll just have to run the back sctratcher over that feeling for a while, until the answer presents itself.

That said...I miss you all like crazy. Tuesday nights, Sunday mornings...H forgetting lyrics he wrote himself, you wearing Nanny's dress and not able to make it through "True Colors"...all of it. So much love to all of you...

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Nobody writes like you do, Allison

Wow

Sinking your teeth into the best day of its life

And the paragraph referring to JH’s return to school... and breathing

Felt your heart in those words & my eyes filled

Beautiful painting

Todays words are so moving to me, I wish they were written over one of your paintings and framed. I’d read it every day

Thank you Allison

So soothing today

I wish you had a piece of watermelon too

☮️ xoxo

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“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”

— Sylvia Plath

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Lovely just Lovely

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Lime popsicles! No doubt the Smartest.

Savor all those memories.

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It’s so hard when our kids leave home for whatever reason. We miss them viscerally, & feel the ache you describe. So hard.

Sending love.🩷

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