Summer in Oregon is a magical time.
So lovely in fact that it always tricks me into forgetting about the cold and gray of the last 8 months. After all this time, I still miss the shoulder seasons of Utah. Exploring the desert in the Spring and watching the mountain tops turn orange, yellow, and red every September. But there’s just so much to love about Summer.
Jumping into icy lakes, impromptu dinners outside, family bike rides, road trips, picking berries, camping with friends, neighborhood BBQs, laying in the grass and watching the clouds, Summer brings so many simple pleasures. . . and after several months of what feels like hibernation, the abundance of peaches, melons, vine ripened tomatoes and zucchini that Summer brings are oh so welcome.
I know there are some people that don’t love Summer. I get it. The lack of routine, trying to figure out how to work while also keeping kids entertained, the sweltering heat, soooo many mosquitos, but I am not one of those people. And there are few places I’ve been where the Summers are as lovely as they are in Bend.
Nature Medicine
One of the best things about Summer in Oregon? Lot’s of opportunities to get outside!
Which is not only fun, but really good for us too.
Our brains are actually hardwired to react positively to nature and being near it can help us feel more calm and connected. And today there’s an overwhelming amount of research showing that spending time in nature can help reduce stress, improve our moods, and even give our immune systems a little boost.
I feel fortunate to live in a place where access to nature is as easy as walking out my front door, or opening up the window to welcome the bird songs in the early mornings.
But even if you don’t, bringing elements of nature into your home can have similar effects on your mental and physical wellbeing.
Simple things like growing herbs on your countertop, incorporating photographs of nature into your home decor, or diffusing essential oils like lavender, sage or pine can help decrease mental fatigue, induce relaxation, and improve cognitive performance and mood. In other words, nature really is good medicine.
And if hiking through the woods, encountering mosquitos and camping in the dirt isn’t exactly your idea of a good time, you might enjoy this Indoorsy person’s guide to the outdoors.
In the Kitchen
Summertime calls for simple meals that are heavy on fresh ingredients and light on the actual cooking.
And gazpacho definitely meets those requirements.
But it’s not for everyone. I’m only newly converted to be honest. But it is a really good solution for hot nights when you can’t be bothered to cook.
But if cold soup is not your thing, Allison Roman’s spiced chickpea stew is good all year long. A few years ago my lovely neighbor generously sent me home with a container of it, and I’ve made it dozens of times since. She even included a bag of chopped cilantro to sprinkle on top (have I mentioned how much I love my neighbors?)
And since it is officially the season of potlucks and shared meals outside, a good cobbler recipe is always nice to have in your pocket. This one isn’t super sweet, so you can actually enjoy the sweetness of the fruit, but still sweet enough to know that you’re eating dessert. I swapped out the blueberries for strawberries and rhubarb, because ‘tis the season. Orange Zucchini Cake is another go-to and a really good way to use up the abundance of zucchini that will soon be upon us.
Listening To
A friend recently introduced me to the Ologies podcast and now I’m sharing it with you. Because Alie Ward is smart and funny and makes things you may have previously found uninteresting completely fascinating.
Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Missions to Mars. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Your conversations are about to become more interesting.
Reading
My “To Read” list is always growing. No matter how many books I read (or listen to) there are always more. And since Summer is the perfect time to sneak in some extra reading time (in theory anyway) here’s one you might enjoy!
The Women by Kristin Hannah. I love pretty much everything Kristin Hannah writes, and this historical fiction piece about the women nurses who served in the Vietnam War may just be my favorite one yet.
Despite their stories being very much absent from the history books, more than 265,000 women served in the military during Vietnam. Over 11,000 of whom actually served in Vietnam, and 90% of whom were nurses.
In an interview about the book, she said “I would not have been tough enough and strong enough to do this. That’s what I admire so much about them. "But history is full of women who don't think they're tough enough and resilient enough, until they're placed in that environment.”
Even cooler was finding out that the woman Kristin Hannah worked with to create the book was a good friend of mine’s mother-in-law.
My primary, I guess, adviser on this novel was a woman named Diane Carlson Evans, who also wrote a book called “Healing Wounds” about her service in Vietnam. She spoke at length to me about what it was like to have been this amazing combat nurse in Vietnam, and then to come home to a world that was so changed and so different.
And it became her quest, over many years, to make sure that the women were honored alongside the men. Watching her and hearing her stories about the fight that she waged for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, and then seeing what it meant to the women who were there on Veterans Day was probably the most powerful thing of all.
Cheers to all the strong women!
Thinking About
This Quote.
“The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy” Hermann Hesse
Seems like a good reminder to slow down and savor these Summer months while they last.
xx,
Ashley
P.S. because I’m always a fan of a good quiz, here’s one on friendship style you might enjoy! Turns out I’m a firefly.