This summer has been brought to me by the letter P.
Piquant: As always, summer is the season of grilling and barbecue. My husband has taken to making his own barbecue sauces—my favorite has 25 ingredients. And there’s the piquancy of knowing that so many summer flavors, and experiences, are available only briefly, and more beloved because we wait all year for them.
Pesky: For all the perks of summer, we still have Japanese beetles, red lily beetles, crabgrass, chickweed and . . .
Poison ivy: The peskiest of pests, brought home as oil on the fur of cats I love to cuddle.
Predictable: Summer in our neck of the woods and lake means certain obligatory outdoor décor—Adirondack chairs, lighthouses, and day lilies. Being over-achievers and highly competitive, we have all three.
Pellucid: Summer is the only time of year I use this word. And it is the only word that really describes the satiny smoothness of the water ripples, on certain summer evenings.
Pellucid waters
Poignant: Summer is a time of so many cherished traditions, involving family and friends. Sometimes I can’t help but think, how long can this last? Can I just freeze this moment in time, with these people, forever? Please?
This photo I took several years ago sums up “poignant” for me—it captures a perfect summer moment.
But the ball dropped and splashed. The dog has since passed on, to the big lake in the sky. The girl has grown and is heading to a new stage in her life. The sun set.
The moment passed.
Yet summers continue to roll over us, and catch us up in their charms. We turn our thoughts to new moments to be lived and memories to be made . . .
. . . periods of perfection to be pondered, and exulted in.
That’s my summer—pretty and perfect and Ps-full peaceful.
Has your current (or most recent!) summer been sponsored by a specific letter? Here’s hoping you’ve found it letter perfect!
Love Those "Hands at Home" 
letter perfect….thanks Kerry,
I hope you’re feeling that way about your summer, too!
What a beautiful letter indeed! Except maybe for the poison ivy! You love in a beautiful place. 🙂
We are very lucky to live in such a gorgeous spot. And our beautiful lake feeds your St. Lawrence River.
It’s all connected and beautiful, isn’t it? 🙂
Sigh what a lovely post. I share your sense of melancholy. It must be part of getting a little bit older ;0) Piquancy is a favorite word of mine but being a ESL speaker, I never use it in public (nor pro verbs or sayings;0)) Prellucid has been added to my dictionary. And predictible decor…bring it on! Love it! have a lovely Sunday, Johanna
Even with English as my first (and only!) language, I’m careful about saying some words out loud. I recently learned I’ve been pronouncing “detritus” wrong my whole life . . .
Beautifully spoken.
Thank you–I hope your summer has been good to you!
wonderful post – I am glad you are having a good summer, with delicious BBQ sauces to boot! Sorry about the dread PI, though.
Our summer is moving along too quickly, but not always feeling very summer like. Another rainy weekend, where we debate the need to turn on the pellet stove (we resisted last night, and so the house was delightfully cool this morning.) But summer none the less, with winter creeping ever closer, it is precious. Another word for your list. 🙂
Precious is an excellent word and should certainly have been on the list! Summer does go quickly–I see people writing blog posts about starting to prep for winter already–nooooooooo!
I ignore them. 🙂
What a satisfying read this was. If I am inspired with a letter for my summer, I’ll reply.
Thanks, Aggie–you could probably easily come up with more “Ps”–productive, for one!
I like the lighthouse mailbox. We seem to have a lot of “fish” mailboxes here 🙂
There’s lots of fishing here, obviously, but the lighthouse motif seems more popular. Maybe it’s just what I notice!
Pellucid – what an evocative word. Thanks for that.
Now you need to use it in a sentence a few times and make it your own!
‘Pellucid’ is such a great word – I must try to drop it into a conversation today 🙂 Your poignant photograph and word so beautifully sums up the letting go of the moments which have formed us and without which we would now stand as lesser beings. My last summer is now such a dim memory the only thing that springs to mind immediately is the bowls of fresh, red, juicy, sweet tomatoes that were harvested from my tiny garden for three months. I LOVE your Adirondack chairs all lined up looking at the water – I should park myself there and NEVER move again!!
Yes, I know some of you are having a hard time remembering summer, while locked in the throes of winter! Summer will come again! The sad thing about Adirondack chairs is that they are not especially comfortable!
Kerry, I think I’d just plop myself down in one of those Adirondack chairs at the edge of the lake and not move for a good long time. It’s so gorgeous!
Unfortunately, my letter this summer is B for bittersweet battle.
Oh, NO–the dreaded letter “B”! You’ve earned a rest near a lake more than most people, I think!
I couldn’t agree more!
I love your post, Kerry. Photos, words and your clever meanings (25 ingredients make that sauce piquante, for sure!) and the Adirondack chairs (Muskoka chairs where I live.) Do you have many monarch butterflies? I think I might have glimpsed one – maybe. But only one.
Oh, cool! I didn’t know about Muskoka so I went and looked it up! We don’t have many Monarchs–not nearly enough for my taste. Thanks for your nice comments on the post!
Letter perfect post! And I love all the pictures, in particular that last one!
It’s easy to take good pictures of perfect moments, right? I should work harder with my camera but I get caught up in other things and get lazy about picking it up.
Reserve a place for me in one of those chairs, please. “Practically perfect in every way.”
One of those chairs, in the sun, would be a good place to gather strength, after a bout with the flu!
My thinking exactly.
Ah, summer. A time for relaxation, reverie, reflection, r &r, but also rollicking fun, rumbustiousness, and racketing around: all the while turning ruby-red under the roasting rays of the sun.
That’s getting into the spirit of things! I love the word “rumbustious” . . .
I need to start using pellucid. It does hit the perfect note.
Like so many words, when it’s right, it’s right!
Wonderful post, adore the idea of season letters… I will give that some consideration.
Beautiful photos of the sunset and water, feel like I could dive right in. 🙂
It’s pretty easy to take a good photo of sunset and water–they do all the work!
I love this post — from your words to your pictures, it captures the essence of summer. Mine so far has been sponsored by the letter B – busy, busy, busy and a hint of beach, beer and BBQ. I feel like I haven’t had any downtime but at the same point, it means it’s been an adventure. I do wish that I could take a nap in one of those Adirondack chairs and cuddle up with a (non-poison ivy) kitty. That would be beautiful.
You should probably factor in a little downtime–just for self-preservation! But it sounds like you’re having an all-round memorable summer!
Great post, and a great capture of the dog, it almost look like her (or she) is standing on the water! And those chairs, with that view, looks like an amazing place to be spending time.
That sweet dog was a friend of everyone in the neighborhood. She lived down the road and all she wanted was for someone, anyone, to throw the ball for her.
BUSY…. Has been my summer ,but it’s been a delightful busy. Loads of sweet smelling wash at the end of a day, smiling faces of grand youngins when you hand them a cold juicy,piles of dying weeds,and when the heat waves roll in, I find my friend “the sewing machine ” and we been to sing in the AC.
That all sounds delightful! And thank heaven for AC–we don’t need it often but I love having it available!
My summers would be ‘perfect’ if I had that water view. 🙂
Oh, the view adds a lot to my level of happiness! I consciously stop and look and appreciate it, in every season.