Hello!

It’s good to be writing to you again after my summer Substack break. I can’t believe the second to last week of August is now the end of summer in my neck of the California coast. Ironically, we are heading into our warm weather months when the fog has finally decided to move on. My biological calendar misses the good ole days when putting away my white shorts on Labor Day represented the right and true end of summer. Can I hear an amen?

Before I share my list of summer highlights, I want to wax philosophical about summer itself. Do you plan your summers? Do you begin summer with a set of intentions that guide your choices about what you will and will not do, a set of intentions that help you create a chill summer vibe?  I hope to hear about your answers to these questions because I don’t think I’ve cracked the code yet.

I wrote an Equation for a Happy Creative Summer in early June and shared it here on Substack. I think it’s smart to set intentions for most seasons in our lives, but I also wonder if the months when my toes look fabulous and my legs are shaved are the perfect time to temper grand expectations and let the days unfold organically. I revel in planning (some say controlling!), but I wonder if that’s the thing that makes me feel like I still need time to rest at the end of August? Maybe my big plan for future summers should be to set dates and reservations for a few trips, and then let it fly like I’m on a roller coaster with no hands. Anyone who knows me is laughing right now. “Yeah, Lorrie, if that happens the only thing flying are pigs!” 

When I’m making summer plans next year, I hope to consider how I’m doing mentally and physically in the months before June. In April a dear friend died and another had a massive heart attack (he’s doing well thank God!), I helped lead a women’s retreat, prepped Summer Family of Writers, and my husband unexpectedly retired after 42 years at his company (defense industry layoffs are no joke). We’re doing fine, but big life events and adjusting to a new family dynamic are huge—even when I love being with my husband more than anyone on the planet. We planned the financial piece of retirement, but not much else (like rhythms and routines, hopes and dreams). After all, we’re not even empty nesters yet. This transition feels a bit out of order, but that’s life, right? Expect the unexpected.

Enough of my summer musings. Here are the highlights that I hope to carry with me into the fall:

1. Connections with Friends and Family: We flew to Oregon to visit Portland friends, and then rented a car and stayed at Black Butte Ranch for a few days with friends from college. We flew to Connecticut to visit my husband’s brother and sister-in-law. I flew to North Carolina to visit my friend and retreat co-leader, Sheri Allen, to plan the 2025 Women’s Mini Retreats. Even though I brought a nasty cold and ultimately Covid, we had a great time together! It’s a sign of a great friend when you get her sick and her response is, “Lorrie! Stop apologizing. Now my immunity for the fall will be even stronger.” The biggest event of the summer was a wonderful family party for my dad’s 90th birthday! To cap it off, I took my nieces to see Niall Horan at the Forum.

2. Trailer Trip with my Husband: We spent twelve days in the Eastern Sierra and began the process of discovering new rhythms and routines in our Happier Camper. Oh, the places we’ll go…once I get comfortable backing up that baby. We are now aware that backing up a single-axle small trailer is harder than maneuvering behemoth RVs!

3. New Hikes: On our trailer trip, Ron and I hiked six to seven miles for four days in a row. High-altitude trails put me in my happy place. We needed long days of breathing hard and putting one foot in front of the other during this big time of transition for our family. As you can see from these photos, we love granite!

4. Writing and Social Media Break: This opened up more time for getting clarity about future writing projects, retreats, and courses. The one writing piece I created was a gift for my dad’s 90th birthday—a tiny decorated book of haiku all about him—90 syllables for 90 years. It was truly a labor of love.  

5. Teaching Summer Family of Writers: While the structure is the same as my signature course, the vibe is different. It’s a small group invited into my living room. Between classes, I do one-on-one writing conferences with every child in a cool writing office— our trailer! I bake homemade cookies for every class, which is tasty, but the real treat is writing with families and sharing stories without any of the regular school-year pressure.  

6. The Little Things (also the theme of this year’s Women’s Mini Retreats): At the top of this list are homegrown tomatoes picked from our garden. In addition to watermelon and plums, tomatoes are my taste of summer. Reading on the beach is second. I did this exactly two times, but I vow to do it more since I live at the beach and September and October are our hottest months. I can’t believe it but this mountain girl may be evolving into a beach girl. I blame it on my niece who visits from Texas and can’t get enough of our California coast. It also feels liberating to finally be at an age and stage when I don’t care so much about being seen in a bathing suit. That is a big thing! The third is watching Alone as a family (and eating fun snacks while we watch the contestants starve). 

    

7. Reading Books: This is no surprise.  I read a lot of amazing books this summer (even though my TBR is still HUGE) and I’ll share my favorites in September newsletters for adults and middle-grade students—one of them will probably be my best book of the year. It’s on my summer reading guide for adults. Can you guess which one it is? 

8. My girl: I don’t write about my daughter too much here as it’s a boundary I hold dear. But I can’t think about summer without seeing her sweet face in front of me. She is wise beyond her twenty-one years and teaches me about courage and believing in miracles every day. 

It seems fitting that I should stop at eight highlights since we’re in the eighth month, the last precious days of August when everyone hasn’t started talking about pumpkin spice lattes, falling leaves, and sweater weather. 

Speaking of fall, I’m looking forward to:

• Family of Writers (Registration opens September 9th)

• Visiting friends and family in Northern California

• Beach trailer trips with my husband

• Writing a picture book manuscript

• A big family reunion (on my husband’s side)

• Starting a new season of a longstanding Bible Study with four wise women I’m honored to call friends.

• Attending three book clubs (Cousins and Aunties, Once in a While, and Secret Stuff)

I hope you’re looking forward to all that’s ahead of you this fall.  

Always reading and writing,

Lorrie