Postcards from June
A quick note: As wedding season picks up and summer unfolds, I’ll be embracing a slightly slower publishing cadence over the next two months. I know inboxes are full and lives are busy, so I hope this feels like one less thing to keep up with rather than something you’re missing. Think of it as a small nudge to soak up the sun, linger over a good book, and give yourself a bit of breathing room, too.
Last week, it was about 8:30 pm and we were riding our bikes home along the Back Cove trail. The sky was glowing with soft cotton-candy shades, the cove was at high tide, and I was smiling like a maniac as we pedaled home a little sunburned and sticky with salt and sunscreen. We had spent the day on Peaks Island with our friends and their kids, biking around the island, collecting shells and rocks, dipping our feet in the water, and cooling off with lemonades and beers in between.
As we rode home, I found myself thinking, once again, “wow, the world is so beautiful.” It’s a thought that has come up a lot for me this month. Between starting the month in Scotland (pictured above) and coming home to Maine in full summer bloom, it has felt like life has come alive.
The beach roses are perfuming the dusty cove trails. Sunflower, zinnia, and cosmos seeds are sprouting in my garden. The grass seems to hold a hundred different shades of green depending on the day and the light. Everywhere I look something is growing or blooming.
And I am so happy about it.
01 - We’ve been watching Widow’s Bay and I love it, even if it does spook the heck out of me in certain scenes.
02 - It's big salad season, and I've been making enormous chopped salads for lunch and dinner. After a winter of comfort food, it feels so good to be eating fresh vegetables again.
03 - June has been jam-packed with weekends away, mostly spent along the coast. On a recent Sunday after a wedding, I woke up in Camden where we ate breakfast overlooking the water, hiked along the coast, and visited our favorite bookstore before heading home. It makes you almost forget the winters.
04 - I am addicted to Sudoku. Every morning I sit down with breakfast, open the puzzle, and tell myself I'll do just one. I never do just one.
05 - I’m actually paying attention to our yard this year, and the first flowers to bloom were the peony bushes! I cut a few of the (massive) blooms, which brought joy to the kitchen windowsill for a few days. And smelled divine.
01 - People in Love by Claire Daverley. I devoured this literary romance on the flight home from Scotland after picking up a signed copy on release day. The joy.
02 - Good People by Patmeena Sabit. The perfect blend of family drama and mystery kept me up later than usual, turning pages avidly to see how things would conclude.
03 - A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst. Dean and I listened to this on audio over the course of a few weekend drives, and it made the time fly. What a wild, wild story.
04 - The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore. I spent a weekend immersed in this gentle family drama set during one New England summer. It’s in the same vein as Anne Tyler and J. Courtney Sullivan.
What's been bringing you joy lately?
Until next time,
Thanks for being here. I’m really glad you are!
If you’d like more considered book recommendations and essays, you can subscribe here.
I also created a small collection of Kindle cases, designed for readers who want their digital books to feel a little more at home in an analog life. You can take a look here.
