What happened in July.

So, July happened. I swear it did. I was there for it, doing July-like things, such as purchasing fireworks, wearing summer dresses, painting my toenails bright pink, eating blueberries, eating barbecue pork sandwiches, learning how to form hamburger patties that don't puff up on the grill, taking long after-dinner walks, discovering frozen chocolate custard with peanut butter and pretzels, napping in a hammock, watching a 15-month-old nephew laugh hysterically while being sprayed with a hose, making a 3-month-old nephew laugh at funny faces, drinking beer, watching our garden grow, wishing that the tomatoes would ripen already, picking zucchini while watching out for the garden's resident spider (his name is Boris), picking cilantro, picking basil, picking sage, picking thyme, picking oregano. Etc.

I can't believe how a July so full could pass so quickly.

In July, I realized that among the many things that I have equated with summer over the years (fireflies, thunderstorms, weekends spent on a boat in a lake in Michigan), summer now also means the smell of fresh herbs on my hands every evening. I love it.

The herbs go in pestos, pasta sauces, scrambled eggs. Mostly, I've been tossing them in a big Ziploc bag with broccoli, zucchini, olive oil and lemon juice, then handing the bag over to Murdo to throw the veggies on the grill. We eat the veggies alongside steak or burgers, and Murdo squirts Sriracha on his, and says things like, "I'm actually excited about the veggies." And that makes me happy.

So, now August is here. The tomatoes are finally starting to turn red (there's a big squishy heirloom that should be ready tomorrow or the next day, and for how long it's been hanging on that damn vine, I sure hope it tastes amazing). Murdo's dad dropped off two large brown paper bags at our front step today, filled with ears of corn straight from the farm. I think grilled corn with herb butter is in our very near future.

Also, I hope to be back here soon, with treats. And if not treats, then at least a few more words and photos, because even though I'm not in this space very often, I do think about it a lot and I'm always glad it's here, and it's time to celebrate that. While we're at it, let's start celebrating August, because summer is almost over but not yet, so we should be soaking it up as long as we can.