Hello summer, my old friend...

As i write this, I'm staring out into the dark from our window, which is wide open, because it's warm and a cool breeze is floating through, and I'm in heaven because it's that first tiny taste of summer, which is kind of like a first bite of chocolate, where your taste buds are totally satisfied but you haven't gorged yourself yet on it's richness.




Maybe I'm being over the top. But always at this time of year, i feel as though I'm on the brink of something wonderful - my favourite season is coming, months of sun and the beach and Christmas and laughter and listening to the radio with the windows down and pink sunsets and warm breezes. Fish and chips and playing out back with the dogs, long walks and the hot asphalt on a 30 degree day, thunderstorms and ice water and sand and Dad mowing the lawn while we stare from inside the air conditioned house. My birthday and Sunday afternoons at the pub and water restrictions and ice cream and thongs and lots of public holidays. BBQs and eating outside and dresses and tying my hair in a knot cause it's stinking hot out. Cricket and going barefoot on the grass and watermelon and mangoes and parties and everyone is mostly happy. These are the summers of my childhood, and i think they will give me pangs of nostalgia until my dying day. The good news is, the above List of Goodies will ALWAYS be a part of summer (so why i get so nostalgic around this time of year I'll never know). As you can probably tell, it is my absolute favourite time of year. I am absurdly happy to think that it's coming. Perhaps I'm just a crazy lady, but I'm smiling right now at the thought, and Jo is asking me what's so funny. "Summer!" is my reverential reply, and he rolls his eyes because he knows this about me and thinks its ridiculous, maybe because he comes from much cooler New Zealand. Is this all about being Australian then, that old 'summer at the beach' cliche? Maybe it is.




As in all things, Jo and I are opposites too about the seasons. When winter comes along, he is the one who is smiling, because it gets cold and he can see his breath in the air sometimes on a chilly morning, and the rain comes down harder, and you can snuggle in under a blanket and do nothing the whole day, and it's bliss, for him. You know, we can't even agree on what types of apples to buy - he likes red, i like green, and so we have to buy both. Total and utter opposites in every way. It is the thing i both love and hate about us, but like most polar opposites, one cannot live without the other and that is a good thing, on the whole. Anyway, it keeps it interesting.




So. This has been thought-provoking right? In other news, earlier in the week Romina and I went to see the movie Julie and Julia, with Meryl Streep (brilliant in everything she does - I'm sorry but it's true) and Amy Adams. You may remember i read the book last month, so i was eager to see how the movie would turn out, and it was very cute. My friend Yvonne said it inspired her to go home and cook a black forest cake from scratch, which pretty much nails it on the head i suppose - like the book, love of, and learning through, food and cooking is it's central theme, and we really enjoyed it. I have finally finished the book i was reading, American Wife, which i highly recommend if you're into that sort of thing (reading i mean), and am now being a sheep and reading Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol. OK, so it's not amazing literature, but i still maintain that he writes entertaining books with entertaining subject matter, even if he isn't that great a writer on the whole.




Meanwhile, Jo has a new obsession - baseball. The last few days he's been watching the American League Playoffs EVERY night - the NYC Yankees are playing the L.A Angels, and all of a sudden he's saying things like "Nell, they're at the bottom of the fifth", as if i actually know what that means. Still, his boyish enthusiasm is so great that i feel i can't spoil it by telling him how truly boring i think this sport is. Every time he calls out "look at this catch!", rewinding it so i too can enjoy the magic, i pull myself away from whatever I'm doing, nod vigorously, agree that it was indeed an amazing catch, and secretly roll my eyes as he continues "you know, i haven't seen the Angels play like this all post-season", as if he's been watching them for years. I mean, it's cute really. Kinda. Ish.