Fading summer

Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.

Lay your long shadows on the sundials,
and on the meadows let the winds go free.

Yesterday was Labor Day, which is kind of the traditional end of summer hurrah holiday, and tomorrow the Seattle public schools start, so this seems like an appropriate moment to wrap up the summer, even if I'm hoping September will be warm and sunny and I don't start school for another three weeks.

Wrapping up, for the moment, is a matter of looking back. I know a lot of people are looking forward to cooler weather and the associated cosy sweaters and hot tea, but I'm not quite ready to let go of my summer yet. I've had a pleasant summer, though I still feel rather destined to have imperfect summers. But I have got a lot done--remodeled a dress and a skirt and a t-shirt, made a blouse and a purse and a lot of jewellery, with pants and another blouse in progress. One of my goals for this summer was to steer my wardrobe to a more cohesive place, and I'm definitely getting there. I've also done a lot of reading and blogging, which is always satisfying. So it's been a pretty good summer.

Yesterday we made my favourite summer food, blackberry pie, with the blackberries we picked at my grandparents' house on Vashon Island. Blackberry is the best kind of pie. I can't imagine living somewhere that doesn't have blackberries.

The poetry, by the way, is "Autumn Day" by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated from German by Edward Snow.