I had the pleasure of catching an acoustic set from Frank Turner the other afternoon for Radio BDC at the Boston Globe studios. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my lunch hour. Frank was fantastic (as always) and the whole performance was such a treat. Thanks so much to the good folks over at BDC for the invitation. I really appreciate it!

Well, August has arrived! Just one more month (well, a month and a couple of weeks, if we’re getting technical,) left of Summer- and I’m determined to cram in as many warm-weather activities as I can before Autumn shows up. July was lovely, and for the first time in a long time, the month didn’t seem to fly by so quickly that it made my head spin. Whether it be because of the week-long heatwave we got slammed with here in the Northeast that seemed to briefly melt the space-time continuum, my lazy days in the picturesque White Mountains and Ipswich, or just because I made it a point to force my usually busy self to pump the brakes and really take it all in- July was slow and steady- and I enjoyed every minute of it.

On a more somber note, this past month marked one year since my father passed away, and while the actual day of the anniversary was indeed a sad one with more than a few tears shed, it wasn’t without it’s good moments. I spent most of the day reflecting on my dad’s life- my memories of the time we spent together, his unyielding humor that he carried with him up until the mere minutes before he passed- and all the lessons I learned from him in he 20-something years I was fortunate enough to have him.

It also gave me a chance to really reflect on myself, as well- how I’ve grown and changed and how much stronger I’ve become in his absence. There have been bumps along the way, of course, but I have yet to let them stop me. I do my best to keep my head up and keep moving forward, and I hope wherever my dad is, he’s proud of me and all that I’ve accomplished so far.

August, as I said at the beginning of this post, is crunch-time for end-of-the-Summer fun. I’m in the midst of planning the last days of digging my toes into the sand at the beach, and the last nights of making s’mores by a bonfire- as well as a couple of other adventures.

I’m just hoping August will take it’s time and ease on by slowly the same way July did.

xox