"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer . . ." Gertrude Jekyll

  

Well here we are, perched atop the hill of the seasonal rollercoaster on this day when the sun sheds her grace upon us most freely.  I'll park the car here, if you don't mind, and just enjoy the view . . . and the extra light . . . for a long moment before we plunge down the other side toward the winter solstice . . .

Ahhh  -- that feels good.

Summer at last.  Even in Minnesota we can't deny it -- it has come again.  Sure there's a little humidity, some mosquito bites, unsettling reports of tornadoes in unfortunate little towns, and nothing but reruns and second-string reality shows on TV, but what would summer be without these?  I like summer just the way it is.

But then I'm a person who loves reruns.  The older the better of course, but for the most part I find old shows to be like old friends and new shows to keep me a little on the edge of my seat, my finger on the button of the remote.

It's sort of like meeting new friends at a lunch where I order something small even though I want more or try to be on my best behavior while we all decide whether we like each other.  Old shows don't mind what I'm eating or wearing . . . we already know whether we want to be friends or not.

One of the oldies 

I've been enjoying lately is Bewitched, 

a childhood favorite that I like to describe as my "Nancy Drew of TV."  It was soothing to me as a child the same way N.D. was, and watching it as an adult, it's easy for me to understand some of the reasons why.  Because no matter how impossible the scrape Samantha manages to get herself into, she always manages to get herself out.  And it's not always through the use of witchcraft.

But her witchcraft -- and using it or not --  

is, of course, the crux of the show. 

 

 It complicates her relationships

and causes problems even as it could present solutions. 

Samantha could change everything, if she wanted to.  She could change the people she loves when they make her crazy, her surroundings when being a housewife is a little less than satisfying, her looks when she has a bad hair day (but let's admit it -- she never does) with a twitch of her smile.  But for the most part, she lets things proceed and tries to make herself at home in her circumstances.


There's something wonderful about the idea of being able to change things with a twitch or a rhyme, but it begs the question of whether or not we would change them if we could.

If you had asked me in junior high, 

I'm sure my answer would have been different:

Change my voice?  Duh.  Make me sound cooler.

Change my clothes?  That depends.  What's everyone wearing?

Change my body?  Puh-lease!  Start with my nose or my thighs or my hair, but just FIX IT.  Don't you know I want to look like HER?!

Change the people I love?  Of course.  My family mostly irritates me and no one lets me do what I want all the time.


If you asked me now, however, I'd have to think pretty carefully about anything I might change. . . 


Okay, my house might be cleaner (but would it feel like home?)  but when it comes to changing the characters in my life or my circumstances, I don't think I'd want to tweak them much at all. 


I might change my work habits -- and here I could use a little witchcraft, please -- to help me get twice as much done on any given day. Especially between now and August.  Mother Nature has offered to cooperate by providing me with plenty of extra daylight, but it seems I'm going to have to do my part as well.


So I guess Small Works is going to enter a little 
summer rerun season of its own . . .  


I'll still pop in with the occasional Magpie Tale (or perhaps even a Terrific Tidbit too good to save), but I think I'll mostly be digging through the archives and posting some things you might have missed.

If the reruns make you change the channel, I'll understand.  If they feel like old friends, I'll be delighted to share them again.  But please come back in August to see my new work before I leave for San Francisco, won't you?

And enjoy your summer, whatever that means for you.  Read a good book (and don't forget to stop in over at Small Works Happy Thought!), toast a marshmallow, enjoy fresh tomatoes, but be sure to soak up all the sun you can and stash some for later so we can pull it out in February and enjoy it together.

See you in August!