Waning Summer Months Erupt into "August" Splendor

  August to me is the end of summer. Once Labor Day rolls around next month it just becomes fall for me. The warmest days and highest humidity during the month here in Northeast Ohio reminds us that August knows it is still summer as well. It is almost as if mother nature needs to end the season on a bang. While some flowers are dying down now in the garden, like the petunias and hosta, others are just coming into their own like the hibiscus and geraniums that seem to be blooming anew again. 

August is often a bittersweet time.... it is the winding down of lazy summer afternoons, the final days of warmth and heat before the crisp autumn air arrives. The birds begin their migration by the end of the month as well. Everything just knows in nature what is right around the corner. It is a reminder to soak in as much of the sun as possible yet before the days shorten.

I continue to look at each day as a new beginning and each month as a clean slate, another chance at a new year. I will savor the fruits of the season in all their sweetness and freshness. I will embrace the summer activities this month has to offer before the days are gone.

August's Bucket List:

• Soak up as much sun and outdoor time as I can.
• Attend the county fair... and hopefully win a ribbon! 
• Enjoy a backyard cookout and look up at the stars!

Comment below: What is on your August bucket list? How do you enjoy the last days of summer?

July- A Month for Heritage!

 While July is the heart of summer and half way through the year... it is also a month of celebrations! For me these celebrations have always meant celebrating my heritage....

It's no secret that I am Italian but I also have English decent in my genes as well. The 4th of July, or Independence Day, holds a special meaning to me in celebration as well. Not only because I am an American of course, but I am also a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. On my father's side I descend from one Thomas Stone of Maryland who was on the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation and signed the Declaration of Independence, later also serving in Senate for Maryland.

Shortly after all of the picnics, parades and fireworks every year then comes the Mt. Carmel Festival and mass for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, which I have posted about many times in the past as well. With both events in the same month and marking the halfway point for the year, July truly is a month for me to celebrate my heritage and all that my family and I are.

So as the fireworks reign this month, I will be celebrating my freedoms right along with a sort of Italian "new year" rejoicing another quiet year of the volcano.  I will be waving flags this month for both sides of my heritage. 

I will look at each day as a new beginning and each month as a clean slate, another chance at a new year. I will embrace the activities of each festivity this month and all they have to offer and represent.

July's Bucket List:

• Celebrate with fireworks several times.
• Enjoy gluttonous festival and picnic foods
• Remember where I come from.... celebrate heritage!

Comment below: What is on your July bucket list? How do you celebrate summer festivities?