June?

How did this happen? It was summer for a day and now it is fall-like again.

Thankfully, E and I took that sunny day for a mini-break in Montreal, where we lounged around the Omni Hotel' s pool and ate great food at Italian and French bistros. At night, we sat out on a patio above Crescent street, waiting for dance bars to open, but I couldn't make it. I had to clip back to our hotel by 10:30, my second toe bleeding form being sliced diagonally from nail to base by my high heels. Still, just getting away from here and all the accumulated stess of being here, helps shift me away from feeling strained to feeling more energized.

If I'm not careful, though, summer will slip by and I'll wonder why I didn't notice it going. That happened last year. I was so mired in job stress and legal negotiations that nothing good seemed to register. It takes real effort to focus on the simple and beautiful sometimes.

While mowing my hayfield the other day, I discovered two raspberry bushes growing in the middle of it. I think I should probably relocate them to the dead turf area at the back of my garage where they can run wild and supply me with ample summer fruit. That's a simple and beautiful thing, I think, so long as it works . . . lawn care is a continual challenge.

So, is life care . . . all the little components of it . . . which I'll tease out later, because they still seem to much to deal with . . .work, partners, kids, parents, food and fitness, health generally, ex's . . .

My ex is still acting nasty. Yesterday, he sent my daughter to school in an unsuitable outfit and another parent I ran into at the grocery store said, "She was cold this morning. You weren't the one to send to school, were you?" Exactly. My ex can't seem to think beyond himself to imagine what his child might need in a day. On Monday, he sent her to school without a lunch.

Yet, yet, she is a happy child and I can take comfort in that. We have fun doing all manner of simple things and life is always, at least somewhat, beautiful.