summer solstice magic and music



it was like the day cast in magic light.
at the bookstore i worked with sharon, a wise woman who knows healing and herbs and energies.
sharon brought organic strawberries to share with me, and tiny silver forks to eat them with.
our friend noel came to visit with her new baby wyatt.
we got flowers from a local beekeeper gal, straight from her vigorous garden.





in the evening we went to play at lotus park down by the river with our friends.
in celebration, i opened a bottle of madrona wine, a delicious and refreshing dry riesling, that was a gift from our friend tim wright a couple years back. (i'd been saving it for the right moment!)


beauty. summer. skin. sunshine.

dogs. water. sparkle. dive. flow. grass. wine. run. wild.

the photos really speak for themselves, that feeling, oh how it kills me, flowing through me when the seasons change and making me know i am part of it all, we are all together, and every last little tiny particle glowing and hot and alive...is love.





now that it's officially summer it's time to start playing my very favorite summery cds.
(do you still use cds? i love them, especially homemade mix cds and tapes. i love records too, when they may be had.)




it's a hot night, the windows are down, your hair is going crazy and you can't stop smiling.  all you want to do is to sing along and be loud, and dance a little bit, it's beck all the way. my favorite summertime album of his is Guero. especially in "que onda guero" when somebody says, andale joto your popsicle's melting...totally reminds me of my childhood in escondido and so many other parts of my life. and when christina ricci says "please enjoy" in the song "hell yes." HELL YES!


a very old summer favorite is the welsh folksy band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. have you ever heard them? i just realized posting the link that they split up in 2006. well the best album for summer is called the Blue Trees, and the best sweetest summer song ever is "face like summer."


laura veirs' music makes me feel especially exuberant in that sunshiney way, especially her last two albums, July Flame and Saltbreakers.
 a couple summers ago i used to drive to the river all by myself listening to the song "don't lose yourself" and singing along like a madwoman and feeling like a million bucks, footloose and fancy free and in love with the world.

the only other album i have to mention is the new bon iver. i'm sure you've heard it and i hope it's making you cry in the good way. i never thought of his music as summery until now, and now i can't imagine summer without it. i hope it haunts me forever, and i hope it is a sign that this will be a summer like no other.



what's your favorite summertime album? 
i'm always excited to hear new heart-rendingly good music.
and happy solstice to you all! may summer proceed with gusto!

Comments

Teeny said…
ahhh, you have Summer happening just right. River swimming. Beer. And tunes.
My favourite summery tunes tend to be New Zealand dub'n'roots, if you get a chance to, you might be able to listen to a couple of my faves here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Q-oAar5DY and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YaDBQeKIE and
theequinebovine said…
My summers are always filled with Led Zep, The Doors and Tom Petty. I think I like to harness my high school years and pretend on a summer vacay .. But I am going on my second round of seeing Gillian Welch play live. I think she will be my summer sister tunes! Love the river shots! I can't wait to diiiiive in soon! take care :)
Cel said…
I make mix CD's for my car all the time. Especially when I know I'll be visiting my parents, which involves 4-5 hours in a car one way. Although it all usually winds up being 60's and 70's rock or crazy psytrance hah. I really need to start listening to new music. It's like I'm afraid to listen to anything else because it might suck hah, which makes no sense at all, silly me.

This so badly makes me want to go swimming again, ah! It sucks that all the public beaches here close at 7PM and I don't know anywhere private to go.
anne said…
love beck! hel yes is my fave on that album.

let's see... some favorite summertime albums include the allman bros. eat a peach, the basement tapes and then a bunch of random summery songs. summer breeze is #1! i love that corny song soooo much :D

these pictures are so fun. nothing beats swimming in a river!
ashley said…
Oh, you and Darin did a wonderful job capturing that beautiful day. I like that the pictures of us at the water tell the tale of us, then you jumped in, and then me. Looking closer at those, I can see that plastic connector ready to pop off!

Im really enjoying 'face like summer' as I write this. The slide in the guitar feels good.

I've been enjoying some latin lady vocs for the summer, so check out Céu (Portugal) and Cibelle (Brazil). Makes me want to dance barefoot on a beach in the still-warm sand late into the eve. Ahhhh, summer...
Amy Beatty said…
summer lovin has begun. Love. That river is always lookin mighty fine! WHat a big fun group to hang with. One of my favorite summer cd's is of course from you xoxoxo I think it may even be called - summer songs for Amy!! awe... Love you. I'm going to go pop that cd in now!!!
cutie! my fave summer album is probably Blind Melon's Nico album. and any bob marley.
Anonymous said…
i love this post So. Much. what i get from your photos is the way that summer feels in the body and in the heart.
it's too cold in SF for that to ever happen fully, so thank you for sharing it here...i can live vicariously! thank you for the music too...i'm listening to gorky's right now and i LOVE it. i'm excited to know that the new bon
iver is summery, since i felt his last was wintery. as far as my own summer music goes, what pops into my head is an album i haven't listened to in years, but i think it still stands: XTC "Skylarking".

have a wonderful vacay with the hubs!!

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