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Today is the first day that really feels like summer weather in Door County. Ten degrees over the predicted forecast, it’s the mid-70s, sunny, humid. I spent a part of the morning picking up trash on the side of the road with my dad and a neighborhood cleanup crew of strangers. We opted for the job where we scaled the steep hillside and found trash decades old. Sweat dripped down my brow, but it felt good to get out and see the impact of your work.

After I spent hours cleaning with the windows open and listening to a good book, feeling the weight of a tough week lift off my shoulders as I lift the dust from the surfaces and go through loads of laundry.

In the afternoon, I tag along with my best friend’s parents to a winery and the distillery, sipping cabernet sauvignon and then samples or bourbon with the sun beating down. The sun, the sweat, thank god.

In the back half of the afternoon my mom and I walk to my place and back again. In between, she helps me make my bed and we play double solitaire at my kitchen table. Summer, summer, summer.

As I write now, my mom is rolling out pizza dough and my dad sets out plates and hands me a glass of bourbon on ice to “use up the bottle”. I keep pausing to talk to both of them. It’s normal and delightful.

I feel like myself. Summer, summer, summer.

With Love,

Natalie