tally marks

When I was younger (read: seven), I'd always have a notebook open while listening to a new CD. The name of each song would get a line in the notebook and I'd rate the music with tally marks -- five for a good song, three for okay, and one for a bad song. If I were to apply that same method to yesterday, it'd have ten strokes. Any day that involves shopping, cheesecake, time relaxing at the pool, friends, and gorgeous light deserves lots of tally marks.

While I may not rate days with marks anymore, I still record them in my journal. Just a spiral bound notebook, it's a place where I can record my days and the happy things that make a day go from good to making me want to scream "I love life" from the rooftops. I don't want to take for granted these precious, fleeting moments. Flipping through my journal and looking at past entries allows me to reminisce and relive the moments again.
"Summer evenings are one of my very very very favorite things. Yes, they're hot, but there's such a wonderful sense of peace and lightheartedness as you talk to neighbors outside while little ones run through the sprinklers", I wrote a few days ago. There are other happy, favorite bits, like an inspiring piano lesson, curling up on my brother's bed early in the morning while talking, and fresh cinnamon rolls.

We're in a severe drought at the moment. Rain is rare, and even when the heavens decide to send down droplets, it's usually not more than a light drizzle that lasts for five minutes. The lack of rain pared with scorching heat has left plants parched, and the grass is speckled with more brown than green. Going into survival mode, the trees have already started losing their leaves. I don't want summer to end, but I confess I'll breathe a sigh of relief once the temperatures have lowered and rain has returned (not to mention fall will bring some exciting things, like my older sister Alina, who's visiting in September. Squee!).

But even though everything's a bit brown, the light has been swoon-worthy recently. It illuminates the tiniest details of everything and bathes the world in a soft, golden glow.
In the daily list of favorites in my journal, the light has been included. After all, to a photographer, light is everything.

Going to the pool has been another frequent activity -- I alternated between floating around in the (warm) water and playing with MeMe and Lilly yesterday. Lilly learned how to swim this summer and she reminds me of Curious George as she glides and slithers through the water like a fish. Eyes wide open, hair hanging suspended in the water, and cheeks puffed out, it's a sight that makes me want to get a disposable underwater camera to capture it.

And as for working out? Sore is a word that accurately sums it all up. But it's a good, accomplished, blissful kind of sore; it tells me that I'm getting stronger. It's been another thing I've chronicled in my journal, another happy thing.

Do you journal?

Happy weekend, friends!

-carlotta

p.s. guest posting over here!