Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Promises, Promises


So, I know I promised photos of the hundreds of peonies at Gilsland Farm, and they will be coming soon.  They haven't quite bloomed yet, but in the meantime, here are a few lovelies tucked into an ironstone pitcher in my kitchen.  I processed them using Kim Klassen's "Just Cause" and "Subtly Yours" textures.

We have been enjoying the most perfect of days lately: warm, but not hot, with dry air and clear skies.  It will end soon, this dreamy spell, but in the meantime there's that optimism to cherish.  Tonight as we sat in the stands at a Portland Sea Dogs game, I got the kind of goosebumps you only get at the ballpark or when you watch a baseball movie, like Bull Durham, which I've seen more times than is probably healthy--maybe 108--just as many times as there are stitches in a baseball or beads in a rosary.  Oh my, that opening, when Susan Sarandon walks to the ballpark, climbs the stairs, and steps into the heart of the stadium, and her dreamy voice drawls, "It's a long season and you gotta trust. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball."   

Baseball feels to me inseparable from summer.  Sure, it begins in spring and ends in fall, but its soul is rooted in summer, that season of promises--the promise of long days stretching out into impossibly long weeks, the promise of ten more minutes at the pool, five more minutes on the ferris wheel, three more seconds of a very first kiss.  Never mind that when it ends we'll wonder where it went so fast.  For now, summer feels endless, and that is enough. 

14 comments:

  1. Dearest Gigi,

    Well, the baseball part is something we didn't grow up with so you left me behind on that one. Summer bliss and the perfect days leading up to it, that is something one would love to frame and hold on to!

    Lots of love,

    Mariette

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  2. Hey Gigi, love your beautiful, dreamy image and your thoughts on summer and baseball ... but can I just say, Susan
    Sarandon, Kevin Costner, bathtub scene? That is why I would watch that movie 108 times!!

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  3. Haha! Yes, the bathtub scene is pretty awesome--all those candles! Sigh. I just love that movie.

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  4. Baseball is still a mystery to me, but I did love that movie!

    Great picture. Really lovely.

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  5. Aw, the ROMANCE!! Beautiful post, Gigi. Growing up, it was only ever in movies for me, but it feels as real as anything!
    I get it! :-)

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  6. well, you know me. it just doesn't get any better than baseball. summer sprawls in front of us, indeed just like a baseball game - no idea when it will end, only sure of the beginning. that's always been one of my favorite parts - it ends when it's over, not just because a buzzer goes off. many's the year summer extended into october here in texas, and that's always the way i like it best.

    xoxo

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  7. Gigi- That photo IS the dream of summer! So beautiful.
    I remember stopping by the Sea Dogs stadium (the old Hadlock Field) soon after the team was formed. I didn't see a game but I loved the feel of that stadium. My husband has a Sea Dog T shirt that's starting to shred, but he still wears it.
    Summer is grand, all right. Being seated in the grandstands makes it that much sweeter. ;)

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  8. I do so remember a summer long ago just as you describe here. Baseball, corn on the cob, watermelon, and that first boyfriend. Oh you have brought back a summer I will never forget. Warm sultry evenings and laughing.

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  9. Wow, when we were kids summer was so full of adventure and excitement - it just went on forever. Now, it can so easily just turn into another season.

    Your beautiful post servers as a reminder of all the promise summer can still hold - we just need to go out and savor it!

    Lovely days, indeed!

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  10. Your photo is beautiful Gigi! As for baseball, it's not huge in my part of Canada...especially since our hockey team is in the Stanley Cup finals. Finally.
    Hope all is well in your world!

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  11. You sound like my husband on the poetry of baseball. Ilove it.

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  12. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous photo!

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  13. i love a good baseball game!
    all the trimmings too, a good hot dog, a cold beer, and the excitement in the stands...it is just FUN!
    xoxo

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  14. Baseball is my favorite sport to watch or listen to too....maybe because my father loved it so much...maybe because I love the slow pace of it...and the sound of the announcer's voice...and those Red Sox and PawSox...

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