Skip to main content

Midsummer night's dream~

Midsummer eve~
Click on photos to enlarge them.

What better way to spend a midsummer evening than a picnic on the lawn overlooking a vineyard … listening to live music … drinking wine … watching kids play the air guitar… smiling at the others enjoying the same thing  … while the setting sun puts on a fantasia in light?

Being there with friends, maybe. But last night we made a last minute decision to go to Westport Rivers Winery for the Friday night concert. We tossed sandwiches and fruit into a cooler and went by ourselves. We sat in the crowd, eating and drinking to the mellow sound of One Bad Ant, a local singer—Gary Duquette--with his unplugged mix of country songs. Good stuff.

 Summer concert~

The evening was a people watcher's delight, and I'd often find people watching back. I'd been glancing at a nearby woman who reminded me of a younger friend. This is just how she'll look when she ages—pleasingly plump and like she's a lot of fun. The kind of person who's always wearing a smile.

Later this woman saw Bruce and me doing the "you-take-my-picture; I'll-take-yours" thing, and she came over and offered to take one of us together.

"If you saw me watching you, it's because you remind me of a friend," I told her. She said a man once told her she had a Norman Rockwell look about her.
 Bruce and me~

Indeed, the whole event would have had Norman sketching to beat the band, so Americana it was. There was a group of mixed-race families and their children sitting together. I wished Rockwell were still here to capture this changing face of America and let its beauty shine.  We need these pockets of humanity, people spending a few hours together for no purpose other than enjoying the moment, to remind us that we're all in this together--sharing a brief moment in a world that depends upon working together and recognizing the similarities beneath the thin layer of skin that holds our important parts together.
-----
One of my theories is that the hearts of men are about alike, no matter what their skin color. ~Mark Twain

Comments

Wanda said…
Oh Ruth, what a delightful evening. Could feel the warmth and enjoyment coming from my computer screen.

Love the picture of you and Bruce. How I would have loved to pull up a chair and visit with you.

I had the privilege of visiting last night with a friend of mine who lived in Tucson...We've been friends for over 60+ years. Life if good!
Carmella said…
That first photo is absolutely stunning!
Anonymous said…
What an entertaining & beautiful post. I too loved the first picture... stunning! Of course, the one with you & your husband was priceless too. :)

Sincerely~ Andrea
xoxoxoxo
Pauline said…
What a neat evening - sounds like Tanglewood on the lawn. Don't you love it when folks get together just to have fun and no one minds what the other looks like?
Ross Eldridge said…
That first photo is truly fabulous. One doesn't need to be standing at the Bright Angel Lookout on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to be rendered breathless. And to think your sunset came with music! Ain't summer grand, though?

R.
Alice Folkart said…
This makes me resolve to go to more stuff like this. It's happening all the time here on the Island. One of the beauties of your experience though is that it is relatively uncrowded. But the best is that you just decided on the spur of the moment to go--no big deal. We all need more of that!

Sunset photo with barn is spectacular. And I love seeing you and Bruce - I feel as if I'd been there too.

Alice
Anonymous said…
I just put up Midsummer eve~ as my desktop image. Fair use?

Stunning.

Barry
Ruth L.~ said…
Fair, indeed, Barry. I'm honored!
Bob Sanchez said…
Sounds like a wonderful time, Ruth. Nice photo of you and Bruce, and that sunset photo...Oh my!

Popular posts from this blog

A Continuum: the sands of time...

Time is like a handful of sand, the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers. Anonymous My 20’s: That runner’s high! I love it! I feel like my feet are six inches above the pavement and I could just keep running and running forever. I stretch my runs longer and longer for pure pleasure until I just have to turn back--reluctantly. I’m empowered and kind of in awe of my energy. My 30s: My pregnancy decade. Three kids. I jog behind a stroller with the firstborn; walk with a toddler while pushing a stroller with the second born; walk slowly with my third, stopping so he can drop pebbles down the drain or pat the doggie.   I go on occasional walks or slow jogs on weekends or days when my husband is home with all three kids. But I often choose to nap. My 40s: My oldest babysits for thirty minutes so I can go out for a walk. I call it my “by-by walk.” “Mommy’s going for a by-by walk,” I say to soothe my youngest, who c...

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We...

One Winter Day in February!

It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. Yay them! And yay me too! This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds. My “chores” for the week: ·       Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!) ·       Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away. Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite). ·       Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!) ·       Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is becoming a favorite...) Once done, that leaves plenty of time to...           To WHAT, exactly? What DO you do with ...