33. The drive-in.
We’re lucky enough to live near a drive-in movie theater. We make it a point to see at least one movie there each summer. Usually more. It’s all about the novelty of waiting for dusk to descend and then getting cozy inside the car while the big screen lights up. Technologically speaking, our windshield doesn’t make for the greatest viewing and our car stereo doesn’t produce the finest sound, but the whole experience of the drive-in makes it a well-loved, celebrated yearly event. This time we saw Cars 2.
34. Blueberry picking.
I love the sound of blueberries plunking into a bucket. Eli and I always think about the well-loved Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky. Plink-plink-plunk.
I’ve noticed that different people have different blueberry-picking strategies. I watched a family pick a tiny pint of blueberries by skipping from bush to bush nipping a few off here, a few off there. I like to tackle a single bush from head to toe. I love to get right under the bush and discover the branches heavy with sweet blue jewels. When I can scoop them up by the fist fulls, that’s blueberry picking at its finest.
Our first round of picking yielded blueberry-lemon and blueberry-cinnamon jam as well as blueberry crisp and lots of handfuls shoved into mouths. Yesterday we went back for round number two. This batch will be combined with raspberries and gooseberries for yet more jam. You can never have too much jam in the middle of January….
35. Big shade trees.
Big, glorious deciduous trees that cast sweeping shadows of shade make me want to scream hallelujah. The majesty of a centuries-old tree sharing its cool shady patches with us on a hot day… such lovely, green, oxygen-filled refreshment.
deep blue sea 