Amidst the Mayhem: Some Magical Summer Moments, 2026

A Wild Honey Creation: Front Porch Arrangement - draceana, peach geranium, coleus, calibrachoa, sweet potato vines, lotus vine, licorice plant

Happy Summer from the beautiful Pacific Northwest! Amidst the mayhem in the world at large, I am enjoying the immense delights and pure magic of this season. Below is a list of highlights. I am going to take a blogging break during the month of August as I'll be traveling (to a truly magical place) and look foward to sharing details about this adventure in September! I trust that you have been able to find some moments of magic and joy this summer in spite of the incredible darkness and many challenges we are facing. I continue to pray daily, "May all beings be free of suffering," and "Deliver us from evil." Amen.

Whistling and Singing:

We had a 23-year-old house guest from New Zealand in late June who had just learned to whistle, and as a whistler myself I thought it would be fun for us to whistle a tune together. We decided on Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and recorded ourselves whistling this while kayaking on Lake Washington. Later that same day, we were riding up the escalator in the public library in downtown Seattle and a man ahead of us was whistling. Imagine our surprise when we realized he was whistling "Ode to Joy!" What are the chances? Everyone in our group joined him in the whistling and he began directing us, and applauded at the end. It was a wonderful synchronistic moment!

Water Play:

Swimming in the pool and the lake, riding ferry boats, kayaking, sailing on the Salish Sea

and exploring the beaches at low tide. We encountered many cool sea creatures while tide pooling: anemones, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, crabs, jellyfish, sea stars, barnacles, Lewis' moon snails, and geoducks (giant clams - pronounced "gooey ducks"). The gulls, blue herons and eagles have been fun to watch as well. When the thermometer rises above 90 degrees, I relish a swim in the chilly but refreshing waters of Lake Washington. I even bought myself a new bikini this summer!

Gardening and Playing with Flowers:

This is my second spring in a new garden, so it is very much a work in progress as the garden teaches me who it is and wants to be. I'm growing tomatoes, green beans, swiss chard, two kinds of lettuce, collards, onions, garlic and carrots. I have a variety of perrenial and annual flowers: roses, dahlias, marigolds, salvia, impatiens, sunflowers, petunias, geraniums, nasturtiums, gladioli, crocosmia, sweet peas, hydrangea, pansies and others. I'm especially pleased with how the pot in the photo above turned out - the way the colors in the coleus and geraniums complement each other and the various textures. I lost several young plants to the munching rabbits, and slugs are always a problem, but I've enjoyed making bouquets for myself and others and pressing flowers. My favorite flowers for pressing are the pansies - I love how their faces look like little dolls.

Hiking and Foraging:

I am so blessed to live in an area with an abundance of natural green spaces, parks, public gardens and hiking trails. The Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and is especially nice in the summer with generally mild weather. We do have the occasional heat waves which are usually short lived, and we sometimes have to contend with smoke from surrounding wild fires. We love walking in the various parks and forested areas. One thing I don't do is camp! I love not camping...I'm not fond of "roughing it." I'm very much a creature of comfort - especially now that I'm officially a senior citizen, lol! A favorite activity is foraging for berries and honeysuckle etc. And of course, I'm still collecting heart shaped stones and have found several this summer.

Road Trips:

We enjoyed a long weekend exploring areas of beautiful Oregon State in June. I'm particularly fond of the Oregon coast, and the Portland Rose Garden is a favorite place. When we visited it we were given a ballot and got to vote for our favorite rose. For a rose to make it onto my list, it must be fragrant. We had fun sniffing hundreds of roses and decided on two favorites: First Place: "Pretty in Pink" and Second Place: "Dee-Lish." I had the extraordinary opportunity to accompany my son on a sight-seeing flight to the San Juan Islands in a Cessna 172 that he piloted. We saw our favorite volcano (Mount Tahoma, aka Mount Rainier) jutting up above the clouds and the spectacular scenery of the islands surrounded by the Salish Sea.

Sports:

Summer is not complete without a night out to the ball park to watch our Mariners play! We were happy that they won on the night we attended. And congratulations to Spain on their World Cup Win! I was rooting for them in the final game!

Sight Seeing and Tour Guiding:

When our visitor from New Zealand was in town, we enjoyed showing her around some of Seattle's famous sites like Pike Place Market, the Waterfront and Aquarium, the Space Needle and other area attractions such as Saint Edward's State Park, Dunn Gardens, Grace Cole Nature Park, the Kenmore Paddle Park, Puyallup Loop Trail and Magnuson Park. We were thrilled when we learned that our guest loves to dance and took her out for a night of dancing at a local venue where there was live music!

Reading, Writing, Napping and Volunteering:

I have read 18 books so far this year, and 4 since summer began: 1 very long book of fiction and 3 poetry books. I am currently reading Annie Dillard's "The Writing Life." I confess that my writing life has suffered this summer as I haven't been writing as much as I'd like, but am hoping to get back in the swing of things soon! I am a mover and often find it hard to sit down and write, especially in the summer when I have so many competing activities. I think it is easier to focus on my writing in winter. I enjoyed volunteering with the kids at VBS (Vacation Bible School or Church Camp) for a week at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church and am grateful to have a progressive and inclusive faith community in a time when Christianity is getting a bad rap due to some of its negative assocation with Christian Nationalism. For anyone interested in reading more on this topic, I recommend the writings of John Pavlovitz, a former youth pastor and author, known for his social and political writings from a progressive Christian perspective and the sermons by my own pastor which can be found on the Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church Seattle YouTube Channel. You can even hear me lead the Prayers of the People during occasional services!

I will end this post by sharing a wonderful summer activity: afternoon naps...ranks right up there with eating, doesn't it? I use the term, "nap" loosely...often it's just lying down and "resting my eyes" rather than actually going to sleep but it's such a pleasant thing to do! I hope that you are finding time to REST along with your summer fun activities and managing the stress of these challenging times.

Wishing you all the best,

Marianne (aka Wild Honey)