The decibel level of the noise, i.e., the male mating song, created by the cicadas outside my window is deafening and rather bazaar just like the bugs themselves. Like a fly on steroids, their size unnerves me! When I saw one on the ground of the parking lot, I just about tripped over my flip-flops to avoid it though strangely I found myself easing back over to take a picture. I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive and would have freaked out if it lifted off into flight so I had to be quick with the aim and shoot. On the download, I was quite surprised. Who knew that a cicada was quite striking in color, that its body and wings iridescent? 
grandparent’s gardens grew the coleus. They weren’t my favorites, certainly weren’t the prettiest next to all the splendid spring blooms. However, I was quite fascinated with them, with the varied striation of colors and design and the soft velvety feel of their leaves. I wondered how I could sew these natural fabrics into a voluminous skirt to billow around my legs in a summer breeze. When I stumbled onto a huge patch of them after a 12 hour day at the office, I found myself stopping, my rush to get home suddenly replaced by a desire to linger in a moment past. I tried to remember why my grandmother had us pinch off the tops of the buds, a memory still hiding somewhere in my head, as I admired the lush assortment of plants dancing at my feet to the whispering evening wind. It didn’t much matter that I couldn’t recall that specific thing. Just being transported back to a time when after 12 hours, tired was still several hours away made me tingle with a delight that put a little skip in my step as I went to find my vintage car for the short drive home. 
This summer, I devoured good novels right along with some that were just okay. So if you've finished feelin' Grey or like me never began and are (still) searching for a good book, I suggest You Are the Love of My Life by Susan Richards Shreve. It’s a page-turner perfect for the summer/beach that may be best left for the porch or snuggled up on a hammock since it is in hard back. Far from an erotic romp, this one is a well-written novel about lies, secrets and shame that I seemed to finish in one huge bite! 
I do plan to delve into at least one more novel or an anthology of short stories or poetry before the end of August. As life has it, once September arrives, a stack of materials for learning purposes awaits my eyes as I prepare to take classes later in the fall. My book basket has a few selections that I bought but have yet to start so let me see what grabs my interest and as I do… 
n the room where class was held. The past 2 ½ hours had been joyous and rewarding; I wanted to keep the feeling alive for a while longer. The last block before Pennsylvania Avenue is a hill. I moved to the far right to make the left and almost wrecked my automobile! The devastatingly gorgeous full golden/orange moon resting just left of the Capitol dome was stunning, a huge surprise that caught me off guard as it snatched my breath. I slowed down in order to catch a red light, whipped out my camera, rolled the window down, leaned out…snap. Drove a little further, pulled over, leaned out…click. This went on for several blocks until I was a couple short from the Capitol when I suddenly made a U-turn, pulled over, parked. Got out of the car, walked to the middle of the street, stood in the twilight in the middle of the bike lane and took one more picture. It was what I thought was a perfect end to a marvelous day… 
.JPG)
After more than one reminder that I was OVER capacity in office emails, I began deleting messages that for some reason I thought I needed to keep; taking a closer look revealed that I could do without more than a 1000 of them. Not too quick on the delete, I found there were a few that even after two or three years were very relevant and worth saving. One in particular spoke about embracing womanhood, about honoring the woman that we are. My conversation with girlfriends lately seems to center around being in touch with what we now desire in our lives rather than staying on paths that no longer feel right. Paused at a place where past and future intersect the present, we are still, introspective with moments of expressed frustration eventually calmed by the one listening, hearing, supporting. Now more than before we recognize that others of 
our species are allies not competition as we lay the groundwork to pursue interests with renewed passion and purpose, maybe with people we’ve yet to meet and each time we sign off I think to myself, life is about to get interesting…