My only child graduated from high school in June, we had a college orientation trip out of state, a trip to Mexico, and in July we went to Paris as a mother-daughter college send off trip that I had been dreaming of for a decade. In August we drove her vehicle across 3 states and I moved her into her college dorm and I flew home alone.
My house has never been so quiet. Running, walking, and power hot yoga classes have been saving me. When life transitions hit hard and deep, one of the only constants I can draw upon is my fitness and lifelong commitment to running and yoga. I am very grateful for them now. I hope you had a great summer!
That sounds like an absolutely amazing summer, Averie! What a wonderful way to send your daughter off to college -- you'll both remember it for the rest of your lives! And, I totally feel you on the house feeling quiet; my stepdaughter is a junior in college now, and I remember that quiet feeling at first -- thankfully, we still have our youngest at home to cause plenty of noise! I can already see the transition you're talking about on the horizon, though, as he gets older and starts to want to spend more time with his friends.
How long have you been running and doing yoga, btw?
I've been running since I was about 10 years old so we'll put it at 4 decades :) and yoga since I was 24. So 2 1/2 decades. I carve time out of my day EVERY day, no matter what, for physical exercise and movement because it's just the key to mental and physical health for me!
The quietness. Yes. And time with friends as they get older. Yes. Savor your time with him while you can and before he gets his drivers license!
Lots of running and live music this summer! Training for the Marine Corps Marathon is going well, I've worked my way up to 40 mile weeks at this point. Only 58 days to go!
Our summer of concerts has been busy!
Late May -- Sturgill Simpson in Columbia, MD
July -- Vulfpeck @ Red Rocks (Our first time in Colorado, we loved it!); Beyoncé in Atlanta
August -- Modest Mouse & The Flaming Lips in Raleigh
And coming up in September -- the NC Symphony playing a bunch of music from video games, two nights of Sturgill Simpson @ Red Rocks, Father John Misty in Durham. That'll make four times we've seen Sturgill in 2025 and twice for Father John.
Our son started fourth grade on Monday and our daughter started her senior year of undergrad. We're unexpectedly having to move out of our house next week because of an air handler malfunction that caused some minor flooding. Since we have continuous hardwoods throughout, the entire house has to be emptied so they can sand and refinish the floors. Insurance will cover everything and we have a rental house lined up, so it's fine, just seriously inconvenient. I guess it's an excuse to run routes in a different neighborhood. The fun never stops!
I love how you're making lemonade out of lemons re: the repairs to your floors. What a pain! But that will be fun to run some new routes. And, how awesome does the concert lineup look?! I need to check out these bands...
Been a good summer! Survived the heat/humidity! Went through a 5-week stretch with dead legs and kept rolling along. After many years of summer running, I have come to expect my own version of the "dog days" of summer. And once the cool mornings with low dew points return, my legs seem to spring back to life... just in time for fantastic autumn racing! My running calendar is challenged by the extremes of summer and winter. If I shortchange training during the extremes, I will not enjoy the spring and autumn race calendars. So, I accept what it is. Pay the piper. Get the hay into the barn! And maintain the longer-term perspective.
I totally get that! Where do you live again, John? I'm (obviously!) in Atlanta, where it can get just brutally hot and humid sometimes in the summer. So I feel you on all of the above!
1st grade is ok. Wrestling with ADHD, new teacher, new classmates ... haven't quite settled in completely.
Training is going well, but I've had a hard time fitting strength training into my schedule, even though I know how valuable it is.
I think I'll have to join a gym instead of doing it in the house. I work from home, and there are so many distractions here -- other things I "should" be doing. At the gym, there's nothing else I should (or can) be doing. Money's tight, but I may have to squeeze it in somehow just for the last two months of training.
I feel you on the work-from-home distractions. I'm in the office two days a week and at home the other three, so I know how that can be. I need to do more strength training myself -- I always tell myself I'm going to, and then I put it off. Your post may be the kick in the pants I've been needing...
ha, what summer? flew by. i work an insane amount so i don't get to enjoy it as much as i'd like. my highlights were a few weekends at the beach, seeing mt. joy in concert, and watching the baltimore symphony orchestra perform jaws while watching the film. my running was fabulous....until a month ago. last weeks mri shows its NOT achilles but some tendonitis around the area. so i'm not as despondent as i was. it already feels like fall in MD, so i'm getting my halloween stuff out this weekend (its my fav holiday). hope everyone has a great weekend!
It's out favorite holiday too! Funny story: my son and I, several years ago, were walking through the Home Depot near us when we spotted the huge, 12-foot skeleton they had on sale. It was the first year they sold them. We both looked at each other and said to ourselves, "who in the world would buy one of those?"
Do you keep them up year round and accessorize them? There's a house in our neighborhood that has left their giant skeleton up and dresses it up for every holiday. My favorite was the red shorts and heart shaped apron for Valentine's Day.
My summer was......mostly boring! But...I finished revisions on my novel--AND I saw Tedeschi Trucks in Red Rocks. While I'm not a big TT fan, what was noteworthy is the common thread between TT and the last band I saw at Red Rocks--OMG--40 years ago! That band was The Allman Brothers--and the connection is that Derek Trucks is the nephew of the late Butch Trucks, who was the Allman Brother's drummer. And...if you've never been to Red Rocks--lordy me, it's a fine place to listen to music--especially on a clear, warm summer night.
Red Rocks is fantastic! My husband and I went for the first time in July to see Vulfpeck perform there and we're flying out next month to see Sturgill Simpson for two nights at Red Rocks. Such an amazing place to see a show.
Definitely! I've listed out our summer concerts in another comment. We didn't go to concerts for a long time when the kids were younger, but we're making up for it now!
I'm pitching agents starting 9.1. Everything I've read recently talks about how the odds are against us debut authors cold-querying agents--but I refuse to give up!
There's a line in Abraham Verghese's brilliant novel, "Cutting for Stone"--where one of the characters says, "Nothing's impossible until you surrender." So I guess I need the tattoo that says: Never surrender!
I've heard so much about Red Rocks, I'd LOVE to go there. My sister and brother-in-law saw a concert there a few years ago and they said it was fantastic -- I've wanted to go ever since the 80s, when U2 had that concert that used to get played endlessly on MTV (remember the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" video, with the white flag?)
OMG! Yes!! Yes...And I know you are a fellow U2 fan.
I was living in Denver at the time that U2 played at Red Rocks and either the morning of, or after the concert, I heard Bono interviewed on a local indie radio show. He was so darn smart and articulate--I think that's when I really fell in love with the band. I can't remember if you've read his memoir--we may have "talked" about it here--if you haven't--it's so worth it. And in this case, Audible is the way to go. I'm ready to listen to it for a second time.
And T--you HAVE to see a concert there....It's magical.
It took me a few months, but I FINALLY finished the big Ron Chernow biography of Mark Twain that came out back in the spring. It's long -- just over 1,000 pages -- but taking all that time to live, even if only in my mind, back in the 19th century world that Twain grew up in and helped shape was a *very* welcome break from the times we're living in right now, to be honest.
Other than that, though, the book was completely absorbing. Twain is surely right when he said, "I am not *an" American, I am *the* American." From his time as a riverboat pilot to his time as a journalist living out west to the years he spent in Hartford at his family home -- the happiest time in his life, when his wife and his family were still all young and healthy, and all the world was still new -- I just got completely wrapped up in his life story; you almost feel like you're there with Twain through all his adventures (and mistakes, as he squandered both his and his wife's fortunes in pursuit of harebrained business schemes).
I really was only familiar with Twain's books and had no concept of what his life was really like, and didn't know that he lost a very young son, his oldest daughter, his wife and his second daughter all before he passed away at age 74. He smoked -- and this is not an exaggeration -- dozens of cigars every day; how he made it to 74 I'll never know! It's well worth a read.
I do! Candice Millard is a favorite -- her "The River of Doubt" is very similar to "The Lost City of Z," if you've read that. I really love narrative nonfiction; "Seabiscuit" and "Unbroken" are other favorites of mine. Also, one I absolutely loved -- it may be my favorite nonfiction book of all time -- is "Why Fish Don't Exist," by Lulu Miller. It's just over 200 pages and every word is fascinating.
I think this has to top my "winter" reading list. As Ann Patchett says--(and I'm paraphrasing) it's the book she'd most want to dive into during a snow storm. Thx for your review! (I love Mark Twain.)
My only child graduated from high school in June, we had a college orientation trip out of state, a trip to Mexico, and in July we went to Paris as a mother-daughter college send off trip that I had been dreaming of for a decade. In August we drove her vehicle across 3 states and I moved her into her college dorm and I flew home alone.
My house has never been so quiet. Running, walking, and power hot yoga classes have been saving me. When life transitions hit hard and deep, one of the only constants I can draw upon is my fitness and lifelong commitment to running and yoga. I am very grateful for them now. I hope you had a great summer!
That sounds like an absolutely amazing summer, Averie! What a wonderful way to send your daughter off to college -- you'll both remember it for the rest of your lives! And, I totally feel you on the house feeling quiet; my stepdaughter is a junior in college now, and I remember that quiet feeling at first -- thankfully, we still have our youngest at home to cause plenty of noise! I can already see the transition you're talking about on the horizon, though, as he gets older and starts to want to spend more time with his friends.
How long have you been running and doing yoga, btw?
I've been running since I was about 10 years old so we'll put it at 4 decades :) and yoga since I was 24. So 2 1/2 decades. I carve time out of my day EVERY day, no matter what, for physical exercise and movement because it's just the key to mental and physical health for me!
The quietness. Yes. And time with friends as they get older. Yes. Savor your time with him while you can and before he gets his drivers license!
Wonderful. Am in the UK, we’ve had the best summer in 50 years, but apparently it heralds the heat death of the planet. Allegedly…
Where in the UK are you based? And what's it been like there?
Lots of running and live music this summer! Training for the Marine Corps Marathon is going well, I've worked my way up to 40 mile weeks at this point. Only 58 days to go!
Our summer of concerts has been busy!
Late May -- Sturgill Simpson in Columbia, MD
July -- Vulfpeck @ Red Rocks (Our first time in Colorado, we loved it!); Beyoncé in Atlanta
August -- Modest Mouse & The Flaming Lips in Raleigh
And coming up in September -- the NC Symphony playing a bunch of music from video games, two nights of Sturgill Simpson @ Red Rocks, Father John Misty in Durham. That'll make four times we've seen Sturgill in 2025 and twice for Father John.
Our son started fourth grade on Monday and our daughter started her senior year of undergrad. We're unexpectedly having to move out of our house next week because of an air handler malfunction that caused some minor flooding. Since we have continuous hardwoods throughout, the entire house has to be emptied so they can sand and refinish the floors. Insurance will cover everything and we have a rental house lined up, so it's fine, just seriously inconvenient. I guess it's an excuse to run routes in a different neighborhood. The fun never stops!
I love how you're making lemonade out of lemons re: the repairs to your floors. What a pain! But that will be fun to run some new routes. And, how awesome does the concert lineup look?! I need to check out these bands...
Been a good summer! Survived the heat/humidity! Went through a 5-week stretch with dead legs and kept rolling along. After many years of summer running, I have come to expect my own version of the "dog days" of summer. And once the cool mornings with low dew points return, my legs seem to spring back to life... just in time for fantastic autumn racing! My running calendar is challenged by the extremes of summer and winter. If I shortchange training during the extremes, I will not enjoy the spring and autumn race calendars. So, I accept what it is. Pay the piper. Get the hay into the barn! And maintain the longer-term perspective.
I totally get that! Where do you live again, John? I'm (obviously!) in Atlanta, where it can get just brutally hot and humid sometimes in the summer. So I feel you on all of the above!
I've been training for NYC, and it's been going well. My long tomorrow is 14 miles.
Not much else. My kid started 1st grade. :-)
Congrats on both!! That's awesome to hear -- how is first grade going? And how has the training been going?
1st grade is ok. Wrestling with ADHD, new teacher, new classmates ... haven't quite settled in completely.
Training is going well, but I've had a hard time fitting strength training into my schedule, even though I know how valuable it is.
I think I'll have to join a gym instead of doing it in the house. I work from home, and there are so many distractions here -- other things I "should" be doing. At the gym, there's nothing else I should (or can) be doing. Money's tight, but I may have to squeeze it in somehow just for the last two months of training.
I feel you on the work-from-home distractions. I'm in the office two days a week and at home the other three, so I know how that can be. I need to do more strength training myself -- I always tell myself I'm going to, and then I put it off. Your post may be the kick in the pants I've been needing...
ha, what summer? flew by. i work an insane amount so i don't get to enjoy it as much as i'd like. my highlights were a few weekends at the beach, seeing mt. joy in concert, and watching the baltimore symphony orchestra perform jaws while watching the film. my running was fabulous....until a month ago. last weeks mri shows its NOT achilles but some tendonitis around the area. so i'm not as despondent as i was. it already feels like fall in MD, so i'm getting my halloween stuff out this weekend (its my fav holiday). hope everyone has a great weekend!
It's out favorite holiday too! Funny story: my son and I, several years ago, were walking through the Home Depot near us when we spotted the huge, 12-foot skeleton they had on sale. It was the first year they sold them. We both looked at each other and said to ourselves, "who in the world would buy one of those?"
We now own two of them 🤣
ha i was just going to ask allison's question. i went to home depot last weekend and the skeleton was the only halloween thing they had lol.
Do you keep them up year round and accessorize them? There's a house in our neighborhood that has left their giant skeleton up and dresses it up for every holiday. My favorite was the red shorts and heart shaped apron for Valentine's Day.
I don't, but there's a neighborhood near us where one house has kept theirs up year-round. Love seeing it whenever I pass by 😀
My summer was......mostly boring! But...I finished revisions on my novel--AND I saw Tedeschi Trucks in Red Rocks. While I'm not a big TT fan, what was noteworthy is the common thread between TT and the last band I saw at Red Rocks--OMG--40 years ago! That band was The Allman Brothers--and the connection is that Derek Trucks is the nephew of the late Butch Trucks, who was the Allman Brother's drummer. And...if you've never been to Red Rocks--lordy me, it's a fine place to listen to music--especially on a clear, warm summer night.
Red Rocks is fantastic! My husband and I went for the first time in July to see Vulfpeck perform there and we're flying out next month to see Sturgill Simpson for two nights at Red Rocks. Such an amazing place to see a show.
That sounds amazing, Allison! So you two are big music fans, I take it?
Definitely! I've listed out our summer concerts in another comment. We didn't go to concerts for a long time when the kids were younger, but we're making up for it now!
SO EXCITING! And isn't it just??????? And btw, I applaud people who make listening to music a travel priority.!
so cool. red rocks is such a neat venue!
Also -- so what's next with your novel? When do we get to read it?
I'm pitching agents starting 9.1. Everything I've read recently talks about how the odds are against us debut authors cold-querying agents--but I refuse to give up!
There's a line in Abraham Verghese's brilliant novel, "Cutting for Stone"--where one of the characters says, "Nothing's impossible until you surrender." So I guess I need the tattoo that says: Never surrender!
I've heard so much about Red Rocks, I'd LOVE to go there. My sister and brother-in-law saw a concert there a few years ago and they said it was fantastic -- I've wanted to go ever since the 80s, when U2 had that concert that used to get played endlessly on MTV (remember the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" video, with the white flag?)
OMG! Yes!! Yes...And I know you are a fellow U2 fan.
I was living in Denver at the time that U2 played at Red Rocks and either the morning of, or after the concert, I heard Bono interviewed on a local indie radio show. He was so darn smart and articulate--I think that's when I really fell in love with the band. I can't remember if you've read his memoir--we may have "talked" about it here--if you haven't--it's so worth it. And in this case, Audible is the way to go. I'm ready to listen to it for a second time.
And T--you HAVE to see a concert there....It's magical.
It took me a few months, but I FINALLY finished the big Ron Chernow biography of Mark Twain that came out back in the spring. It's long -- just over 1,000 pages -- but taking all that time to live, even if only in my mind, back in the 19th century world that Twain grew up in and helped shape was a *very* welcome break from the times we're living in right now, to be honest.
Other than that, though, the book was completely absorbing. Twain is surely right when he said, "I am not *an" American, I am *the* American." From his time as a riverboat pilot to his time as a journalist living out west to the years he spent in Hartford at his family home -- the happiest time in his life, when his wife and his family were still all young and healthy, and all the world was still new -- I just got completely wrapped up in his life story; you almost feel like you're there with Twain through all his adventures (and mistakes, as he squandered both his and his wife's fortunes in pursuit of harebrained business schemes).
I really was only familiar with Twain's books and had no concept of what his life was really like, and didn't know that he lost a very young son, his oldest daughter, his wife and his second daughter all before he passed away at age 74. He smoked -- and this is not an exaggeration -- dozens of cigars every day; how he made it to 74 I'll never know! It's well worth a read.
Do you read a lot of non-fiction and/or biography? I've not read many biographies, but I'm in a reading rut now so maybe I should give one a go.
I do! Candice Millard is a favorite -- her "The River of Doubt" is very similar to "The Lost City of Z," if you've read that. I really love narrative nonfiction; "Seabiscuit" and "Unbroken" are other favorites of mine. Also, one I absolutely loved -- it may be my favorite nonfiction book of all time -- is "Why Fish Don't Exist," by Lulu Miller. It's just over 200 pages and every word is fascinating.
If you make it to Hartford for a run... Lots of choices through the Hartford Marathon Foundation.... You can visit the wonderful Mark Twain House. https://www.hartfordmarathon.com/ https://marktwainhouse.org/
I would absolutely love that!!
I think this has to top my "winter" reading list. As Ann Patchett says--(and I'm paraphrasing) it's the book she'd most want to dive into during a snow storm. Thx for your review! (I love Mark Twain.)