Not Quite Ready for Socks

I woke up this morning to find that autumn had arrived. This is my favorite season, but I prefer the gradual transition of seasons I remember from my youth where one started to notice little changes, a slight tinge to the leaves, flowers blooming less frequently, a little nip in the morning air that was forgotten by the time the sun reached it’s apex.

Instead, I feel like autumn is a house guest who, while eagerly anticipated, managed to catch an earlier flight, arrived a day early, and was found sleeping on my couch in the morning because the guest room wasn’t ready yet.

Yesterday I wore a tank top and a skirt of light cotton—my barely-there uniform of summer. Today I was scrambling for my sweats and long sleeved shirt. Just moments ago, I went downstairs to find my hoodie. This is too much change to take in all at once.

My hold out is footware. I spend most of the summer wearing as little on my feet as possible. I live in my sandals and my most recent purchase, a bright orange pair of Croc-like clogs. I bought them at the beach for four dollars a couple of weeks ago. I love them in all their garish beauty.

I’ve decided that, since they are a fall color, they will be acceptable to transition to the next season. They will alternate with my sneakers (my official footware for any season not summer).  And for the time being, I will hold out on wearing socks for as long as I can.

After all, who knows, maybe later it will warm up again.

52 Weeks of Photos, Week 1 Summer/Winter

Last year I participated in a photo challenge--52 Weeks of Photos on AltDotLife. At the beginning of the 52 weeks, a list of topics (one for each week) was posted. Each week participants would submit their photos and then vote on their favorites. I even won a few times.


Well, it's starting up again--this time without the voting. Last time I didn't manage to participate every week. This time, it's my goal to submit a photo for every week.


This week's topic is Summer/Winter (depending on the participant's hemisphere). I've been carrying cameras with me all week. (Okay that's not unusual.)

Here are the photos I considered for submission this week:

This one is in NYC just outside Port Authority Bus Terminal. I had to go into the city to meet with clients and it was a lovely day, but really this was my "just in case I don't get a chance to take any pictures" picture.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

Paul and I were invited to our niece's pool party. Paul is an AquaWookie by nature and so I couldn't pass up these rare photos of him in his native environment.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

©Cristina Kollet 2011

©Cristina Kollet 2011

©Cristina Kollet 2011

I love this picture of birds taking off next to the pool. But I think it's too abstract for anyone who wasn't there.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

 Nothing says Summer like ice cream! (But the background doesn't make this a great picture.)

©Cristina Kollet 2011

This shot was good in theory but the composition and focus don't come close to what was in my head.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

This is my new favorite picture of the two of us. It was one of those rare times when I managed to hold the camera just right. My friend Julia is a master of the arm-extended self portrait. I usually get the top of our heads or maybe someone's ear.

This is the picture I'll be posting for Week 1. We've had a very nice few days and this is how I want to remember the summer.

©Cristina Kollet 2011

Vacation in a Day

In a household where one person officiates weddings (and other ceremonies) and the other teaches SCUBA, summer is not the obvious time for a vacation, it’s the busy season. And often our weekends are spent apart, each tending to our own clients.

That being the case, my husband and I have developed the habit of taking little mini vacations—usually of one day.  We’ve found that it’s not the amount of time, but what you do with it that counts.

The key to it all for us is a laid back pace. If we leave with a plan, but wind up doing something else, it’s all good, as long we we’re together.

Two weeks ago we spent Sunday SCUBA diving in PA at Dutch Springs with our good friend Rich. It was great. A little bit of a busman’s holiday for Paul as Rich was finishing his qualifications to become a dive master. The last item on his agenda was guiding me through a SCUBA refresher. It was my first time in several years and I was so happy to get back to it as SCUBA diving often feels like the only time I’m not multi-tasking or headed to one appointmment or another.

It was a great day, hot, but clear. The water had warmed up. The “vis” wasn’t the greatest, about 20 feet. But we were under water and having fun. 

Between dives, Rich grilled some steaks and made roasted potatoes. We chatted, celebrating Rich’s accomplishment and my return to the water. We soaked up the sun until it got so hot that we retreated to the water for another dive. And after that, we ditched our tanks and just bobbed at the surface in our wet suits chatting for another forty minutes.  

We wrapped up the day by stopping for dinner and filling out our Dive Logs on our way home before going our separate ways.  It was a full day, and included a weekend’s worth of fun, a drive in the country, two dives, a BBQ, and dinner out. I got home feeling as if I’d been gone much longer than a day.

Yesterday was originally supposed to see us back at Dutch, but a long and very hot Saturday, each attending our separate vocations, saw Paul and I in great need of a lie in. But the beauty of the long summer days, is that you can still enjoy a nice day out, even if you don’t get out till after three.

Paul and I managed to pry ourselves out of the house at around three-thirty. We were headed “down the shore” –which is Jersey talk for "we went to the beach."

TEA!

Getting ready for a conference call this morning,  I couldn't stop yawning. Then I realized that it was finally cool enough for tea.

It's been too hot for weeks and I have been missing my morning mug of hot caffeinated goodness. I know this respite from oppressive heat is temporary and that there is some irony in celebrating with a hot beverage.  But when the morning involves listening in on a 2.5 hour conference call--as a technical writer many of my calls are more about listening than participation--nothing else will do.