All of the seasons have a taste. Winter tastes like hot chocolate and candy canes. Spring tastes like green stuff, like fresh spinach and ruffage, like iced tea and jolly ranchers, and everybody knows that Fall tastes like Pumpkin Spice everything. LOL.
Summer? Summer has so many tastes…… Summer at our house this year, it has been a buffet of it’s own.
In June, the very beginning of June, the taste was Rainier Beer, as we bade farewell to our beloved Gerbil man Dale. It was a beautiful bittersweet day that we sent him off with the roar of almost 100 bikes and told stories about him under the shade of the shelter at Alder Lake. I’m am not a beer drinker, I absolutely despise it. That day I had three Rainier Beers. Cheers to you Dale. You are missed.
Oh June, how bittersweet you began. The day before Dale’s Celebration of Life, my Leprechaun Grandpa also gave his final glance at his earthly life. It wasn’t unexpected, but it rocked our Leprechaun family to the core. That day tasted like Shamrock Shakes and bitter, raw kale.
Then there was the reprieve of Neah Bay, what a beautiful trip that turned out to be! The water always calls to me, as does the magic of catching fish. I caught no Halibut this year, but there were Rock Fish, a Ling Cod and even a Salmon that graced my pole.
My Rooster was the lucky Halibut man. That long weekend tasted of Seafood, fresh ocean air and unfortunately…… vomit, I am notoriously just a little bit seasick.
You know that we’re busy, busy people, my Rooster and I. We work and play hard. Our home life in June tasted of latex paint (him) and poop dirt (me), but also of burgers and dogs, of fish frys and of friends. Just kidding about the friends, we don’t usually taste them.
Rounding out June was a mouthful of Spring Opener, the annual ABATE biker rally/campout in Easton. We haven’t attended in several years, but thanks to the Gerbil revival (there’s that Rainier Beer again), we and a couple dozen others in our close knit riding group had a bang up time amongst the thousands of bikers in attendance.
Spring Opener tastes like raw hot dogs and Rooster Juice (apple pie moonshine).
We sure did miss our biker games from years passed, and although we didn’t win this year, the desire for that trophy grew ever stronger.
We slowed down only long enough to water the garden and harvest the spinach and peas, before we were on the road to our annual Spokane area adventure for the 4th of July.
As has been the tradition for 15 years (holy crap that’s a ton of years), we met up with Rooster’s Dad, Chickenhawk, and his little brother Dane at Loon Lake. There was camping and fireworks, hard beds and lots of hugs.
There were Kayaks!
That trip tastes like bug spray, the mosquitoes eat me alive every time.
We returned home, Chickenhawk and the boy in tow for a week of hometown shenanigans before sending them back to Utah. That week always smells of sweat and too many boys in the house, it tastes like the circus, of peanuts and cotton candy. If you are a follower of that annual trip you know that it usually ends with many things broken. This year it tasted of surprise, like Sour Patch Kids, because everything and everyone was intact at the end.
Oh July, how I love you. Did I mention we don’t ever slow down? Our next adventure was white water rafting in Wenatchee with six of our other Gerbil compadres.
It was much fun! It was hot and exciting, yet cool and crisp, it was out of our normal range of activities and you know what it tasted like? Ice cold cucumber water. New and fancy, but somehow a little slimy, good for you but for unclear reasons. That was a fun day.
I wonder if our guide ever before had a boat full of Gerbils singing the Love Boat theme song down the Wenatchee River?
The motorcycles……… they were jealous, so we rewarded them for staying home on raft day by going to Sun and Surf, or Bikers at the Beach, or Hog Wild, or whatever you wanna call the bike rally at Ocean Shores. It’s all the same to us.
What fun it is to travel as a group, in formation, cooperating, looking out for one another as if we were fun loving pieces of the same one body. There were short rides, camp fires, concerts and BBQs. There was bling and leather, salt water and laughter.
That weekend tasted like a perfect S’more to me, and an Oyster Shooter for my Rooster (none for me thanks, ick).
And now suddenly it’s August, and we’ve been home for the last few weekends. What the heck? Home tastes too hot, like tea that still boils. Home tastes like fresh produce, broccoli, beans and corn from my ever productive beautiful garden! Home tastes a little dusty, but comfortable like an old sweater (don’t taste your sweaters). Home tastes wonderful.
And this weekend, a Summer Wedding in the Park, we get to witness the matrimony of our friends Kim and Jaime. Oh how I love to witness love! I wonder what it will taste like?
How fleeting the summers are…….
What did your summer taste like?