hunt.peck. stretch. spark. gather.

For about five years running I have ushered in summer with a ritual list-making.  I do this with my daughters. We sit down together and each make a list of things we want to do over the next 2.5 months, including things we know we will do, things we hope to do and things in the category of wildest dreaming too.  They get posted in the kitchen as a sort of summer play list that stays in view.  As a relentless list-maker, nostalgist and keeper, of course I have all these lists still.  Alongside each other, they carry commonalities and annual habits both discovered and intentional.  But they also pay homage to the fabric of our essential selves.  My lists always feature a good amount of activities involving harvest, being outside and driving long distances.  Huh.  Things that needn't have singularly seasonal appeal.

We don't have these kind of written narrative to-do lists this year.  Perhaps it is because only two of three of us get any kind of dedicated time together/desire any kind of dedicated time together. Perhaps it is because we plowed head-on into the season with a pretty full roster of places to be and people to see.  Perhaps it is because a new kind of list was festering. A list of verbs.  Mine dawned and grew up from three words to five in the strawberry field. And it appears to be less of a checklist than a workout regime of verbs.   They are all applicable to everything I (ought to) do all the time, but in this format they make a little imperative of what should come out of the next few months.

How now?  A progress report on some thoughts and strategies:

Hunt.  Well, the field is wide open there.  People hunting, home hunting, general prospecting. :)
Peck.   Gotta peck at what I hunt.
Stretch.  Unconditionally loving those things that are hard to love is my playing field here.
Spark.  Re-ignition. Closely connected to the next word, as the ingredients for sparking are often the result of gathering.  But this one is for my oldest daughter too.  Must help her spark, sneak people into her life to bring up her own spark.  Hard to do. Harder remotely.
Gather.  Most easily practiced, most easily attained.  28.5 pounds of strawberries, crowded living room slumbers, open door dinners, kid care co-ops to get work hours in, impromptu evening jam-making.....

I like my list.  I am sure I could chase it with a handful more.  But out there on the solstice staining my hands with fresh Oregon strawberry juice, this list stuck with some sweetness.

first published June 2011