Small Summer Pleasures

Especially this summer, the devil’s in the details. Without big pleasures like travel, concerts, and big gatherings of friends, we really need to relish the small things. These are some of the things I’ve been finding joy in this summer.

Weekly Farm Share

I can’t afford to get my farm share every week but it’s always a luxury when I can sneak it into the budget. I use Share Family Dinner, a great farm share that provides you with everything you need for meals: protein (meat, fish, eggs, sometimes yogurt), veggies, fruit, grains (pasta, bread, etc.), even dessert! I wrote a post reviewing the service a while back. It feels good to support the local economy and inspiring to have a surprise bundle of fresh ingredients to cook with. One of the perks of quarantine is I actually have time to cook!

Sunrise Photoshoots

I’ve always shot my outfits at sunrise because the light is nice and there aren’t many people around at that hour. But the morning shoots have taken on a new, calmer quality. Before COVID I would rise with the sun, shoot, and then have to come home and start my chaotic work day. Now I can come home, shower, and edit the photos peacefully with some coffee. Even the shoot itself doesn’t have to be so rushed. It’s more of a creative experience I can savor than another thing to check off my to-do list. 

Making New Friends

I’ve made a few new friends during my quarantine routine, including everyone who works at my local post office and an elderly gentleman who takes his first smoke break when I go out to shoot at dawn. I’ve always been the kind of person that makes friends easily, everywhere, and always, but it seems like everyone is craving human connection lately. Friendships are forged out of being in the same place at the same time every week because that’s our only opportunity right now. It’s nice to have that human connection and to know that both you and the other party feel less alone because of those small interactions.

Letter Writing

I’ve been a big card writer since birth but now that I’m separated from friends and family I’m at the post office sending things out pretty much daily. I mail cards to my senior friends every week since I can’t visit them, packages to my friends who have birthdays, newspaper cut outs to my family because I’m 85 on the inside. The physical manifestation of sending something feels more satisfying than just sending a text and it’s always exciting to get mail that isn’t a bill . It feels like a tangible way for me to say I love you and I’m thinking about it to the people I care about.