Late Spring to Late Summer 2026

So with all this in mind, I am reflecting on the last few months, April through August, with the feeling of not only gratitude, but joy, awe, sadness, and grief.

So to my beloved nature, as the seasons flow one into the other and I reflect on late spring to late summer, I I thank you for, as I look back, the slow start to spring in April.

It was cooler and drier.

But of course, here in central Virginia, it's, you know, everything's covered in pollen.

So lots of pollen nonetheless.

I thank you for the memories, joy, and hope that the Artemis II rocket launch and mission brought forth in me and my family.

And so anyone my age, I'm 62, probably remembers the rocket launches we would watch as young children in the school cafeteria or auditorium.

I loved sharing the rocket launch with my grandchildren.

My granddaughter is two years old and is completely obsessed with space.

She wants to be a space girl when she grows up.

And I have rewatched that launch a hundred times with her.

The photos shared by the crew were so awe-inspiring.

And many of us don't take the time to look up.

Perhaps this mission raised our collective awareness to our place and time in the universe and helped us all remember that we are an integral part of a larger system.

We are more than just our small selves.

For me, it cultivated hope.

Seeing those four astronauts and all the teams that worked with them to make the mission a success, each with their own unique journey and story, working together and supporting each other in a world that seems to have the theme of every man for himself right now, gave me a renewed hope in the human collective.

I thank you for my beloved strawberry patch.

You know I talk about this all the time in so many episodes.

It brings so much joy and nourishment to my family.

As we were picking our first harvest of the season in late April, my daughter was a few months into her pregnancy with her twins.

And I discovered a double strawberry, which I'd never seen out there, which I gifted to her as a good luck sign.

My strawberry plants continue to produce well into June.

They have never produced that far into the summer because they're earlier season producers.

I wrote an essay about the relationship between my family.

So with all this in mind, I am reflecting on the last few months, April through August, with the feeling of not only gratitude, but joy, awe, sadness, and grief.

So to my beloved nature, as the seasons flow one into the other and I reflect on late spring to late summer, I I thank you for, as I look back, the slow start to spring in April.

It was cooler and drier.

But of course, here in central Virginia, it's, you know, everything's covered in pollen.

So lots of pollen nonetheless.

I thank you for the memories, joy, and hope that the Artemis II rocket launch and mission brought forth in me and my family.

And so anyone my age, I'm 62, probably remembers the rocket launches we would watch as young children in the school cafeteria or auditorium.

I loved sharing the rocket launch with my grandchildren.

My granddaughter is two years old and is completely obsessed with space.

She wants to be a space girl when she grows up.

And I have rewatched that launch a hundred times with her.

The photos shared by the crew were so awe-inspiring.

And many of us don't take the time to look up.

Perhaps this mission raised our collective awareness to our place and time in the universe and helped us all remember that we are an integral part of a larger system.

We are more than just our small selves.

For me, it cultivated hope.

Seeing those four astronauts and all the teams that worked with them to make the mission a success, each with their own unique journey and story, working together and supporting each other in a world that seems to have the theme of every man for himself right now, gave me a renewed hope in the human collective.

I thank you for my beloved strawberry patch.

You know I talk about this all the time in so many episodes.

It brings so much joy and nourishment to my family.

As we were picking our first harvest of the season in late April, my daughter was a few months into her pregnancy with her twins.

And I discovered a double strawberry, which I'd never seen out there, which I gifted to her as a good luck sign.

My strawberry plants continue to produce well into June.

They have never produced that far into the summer because they're earlier season producers.

I wrote an essay about the relationship between my family.