Get It Where You Can

I am writing this newsletter from the surface of the sun. The high is 101 degrees in Baltimore today, which is basically what it was yesterday too, and the days before that, well, I don’t totally remember because my brain has melted from too much heat and humidity.

I have written before about how I don’t really like summer:

I stand by this. Summer kind of sucks, except it obviously doesn’t totally suck because there is swimming and ice cream, and cold drinks, and water fights, and when you’re seven years old, which my older son is, summer is basically the best because it’s just nonstop fun and friends and movies and Mom saying, “Yeah, sure, let’s order pizza again,” because it’s too damn hot to cook anything and she decided that this summer she was really truly gonna give in, let go and enjoy herself.

I’m doing an okay job of it.

The 100-degree days and the positively batshit political climate are doing their best to knock me off course and back down into the dumps where I have historically spent my summers, but I am persevering. (Despite my husband’s occasionally skeptical looks when I specifically mention what an amazing job I’m doing of persevering in my carefree approach to summer, plus the mere fact that repeatedly declaring oneself to be carefree kind of negates the entire premise of being carefree…I am persevering! I am a bundle of fun and good spirits this summer, dammit!)

The baby is a toddler now and he is getting into everything, and becoming demanding. He wants to go for walks out in this godforsaken heat, and wants to eat his weight in graham crackers and pull the cat’s tail and climb halfway up the stairs whenever anyone turns their back for one second. But he is also adding so many new words, and loves to climb up on the couch with a stack of books and “read” to himself, and he’s always down for a dance party at a moment’s notice. When he gets really grumpy, I set him down in the clean dishes side of the sink and then wash dishes in the main sink tub while he reaches over and plays with the water. This activity keeps us both from screaming our heads off.

My older son is running himself ragged in that pure bliss, only-possible-in-summertime kind of way. He wants to do everything! He wants to laze around and do nothing! Summer is the greatest! he’ll randomly declare.

I’m reading lots of books and letting the mosquitoes have their way with me. I put on my big straw hat, slather myself in sunscreen, and just go for it whenever my kids beg to go outside. I am not picking (too many) unnecessary fights with my husband as if he’s somehow to blame for the fact that July is a hot, miserable month. I am finally making real progress on my novel again, and I’m writing and sending poems out on submission (and getting lots of rejections, but c’est la vie). Do I think someone should give me a medal for how well I’m handling summer? Yes, I kind of do. (I kind of think we all deserve medals for putting up with everything that’s going on right now.) I even started really genuinely exercising again so that I can build up some strength before my hysterectomy surgery that’s now (finally!) scheduled for the fall. Exercising! In summer! The hottest, most physically depleting season. You know what, yes, give me that medal. I’ve earned it.

For anyone who is not a fan of summer, I hope you’re managing okay. And for all of you summer enthusiasts out there, I hope the season has lived up to your expectations so far.

Here a few small things that have brought me joy so far this summer, and some bits of news and goings-on I’d like to share:

• Vactionland by Meg Mitchell Moore and Sandwich by Catherine Newman are both good choices if you’re looking for a enjoyable, quick, solidly summertime read.

• I melted a bunch of peanut butter with a few chocolate chips mixed in and then poured it into silicone muffin cups and put them in the freezer and it’s basically like eating a frozen Reese’s peanut butter cup. It’s really quite delightful on a hot day.

• In trying to get the toddler to stop tormenting the cat, we taught him the word owie, as in, “The cat doesn’t like that; it’s owie for him,” and now he uses owie to express any and all displeasure. Have you ever heard a 15-month-old dramatically shout “owie” when offered a handful of Cheerios that he’s not interested in eating? It’s pretty funny.

• My son is attending a camp this month that is held at his elementary school and on the mornings when it’s my turn to drop him off, we walk up to the school. I push the stroller and my son walks the dog and this morning, the dog got his leash all tangled up in some fallen tree branches while sniffing around for the best spot to pee and it took my son nearly five full minutes to get the leash untangled. About halfway through this effort, he shouted out to where I was waiting about 10 yards ahead, “This guy’s really giving me grief!” My parents use this phrase all the time and it was a humorous delight to hear it repeated in my son’s sweet, albeit exasperated, voice. Little kids talking like adults is one of my favorite things.

• The writing group I organized is getting me through writing the novel I’m working on. Sometimes another person shows up and we sit in quiet communion as we write and it is nice to have a sense of companionship, and sometimes no one comes and it is just me, writing alone, dedicated and focused for a full hour and that feels good too. I figured out a way to carve out time for myself. A small, but important accomplishment.

• My children’s lit magazine, Little Thoughts Press, is running a summer reading program where kids can fill out a bingo card and win prizes. You can learn all about it and sign up here, or just download a bingo card and get started!

• I am running another in-person session of my workshop, The Written Womb, on August 18th at 12:30 at The Womb Room. We’re going to be writing about the body and I’ll be putting my years of massage work to use by saving the last half hour of the two-hour session for foot, head and neck massages. Register here if you want to come and write and then relax.

• Bottlecap Press, the small press that published by chapbook, One Good Thing, is having a tenth anniversary sale right now. You can get all of their titles, including my book, for 20% off. Here’s a poem, set in summertime, from One Good Thing:

As always, thanks for reading and for all your support!

You can find more of my writing & contact information at clairemtaylor.com. If you’d like to further support my work, please consider purchasing one of my books, or a copy of Little Thoughts Press. I also have a ko-fi page