07 February 2007

it must be in here somewhere



I was recently reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Albert Camus: "Au milieu d'hiver, j'ai découvert en moi un invincible été." (In the depth of winter, I discovered within myself an invincible summer.) I should admit that I was not reading Camus when I remembered his fine words. I was reading the fourth Traveling Pants book. Who has time for French literature when there is teen fiction to read? Not me.



If Camus says there is an invincible summer to be found within myself, then there must be one. I have loved reading about all the ways people are fighting off the February funk out in blogland. There's been mad cooking and baking, snuggling in bed, photo-taking, giggling, and dancing.



I've made myself a little rule that I do not trek to the laundromat when the temperature is below 20degrees. Thus off the hook for dealing with the Mt Everest of laundry that is taking over my bedroom, I had time this evening to browse through my photo library from last summer. These are some of my favorites. And suddenly summer doesn't seem so far away.



If there's an invincible summer within myself, I think it probably has something to do with the joy of creating, the clacking of my sewing machine, warm bagels on a Saturday morning, crisp white paper, a few tentative hopes and dreams, and a sister who has a whole drawer full of clean underoos that I can nick now that I've completely run out of clean laundry.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

A beautiful sentiment. And absolutely gorgeous photos. I want to be in that lavender field! And I'm not even suffering a bitter winter, being in sunny Sydney and all.
However, I can empathise. I have lived through 6 foggily miserable Milan Februarys, and I know, it is no fun.

Anonymous said...

You have such a wonderful way with words. Thanks for bringing a bit of summer to us!

Anonymous said...

your photos are beautiful, julie. i am feeling warmer already!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Julie! Your summer photos gave me goose bumps. They're beautiful!

As much as I dislike the depths of Winter, it sure does make me appreciate the Spring and Summer even more. Thank you for the reminder.

Vaedri said...

Thanks for the touch of summer on such a blustery day!

Anonymous said...

um, dude... spring lines are hitting stores NOW, so summer must be just around the corner... yipee!

my advice - go out to SoHo this weekend and pick up some new spring gear; maybe even a bathing suit... it'll make you feel summery and warm in no time. ;)

Becky said...

May I follow you around this summer? because you obviously visit the most *spectacular* places! What beautiful photos! I want to lie down in the lavender field and fall asleep under those beautiful trees for a while...

Molly FitzGerald said...

I love reading your blog-- it reminds me of so many wonderful things... are you a fan of Francois Hardy (French Pop 60s/70s)? If you are, me too and she is great! If you haven't heard of her, I think that you might fall in love...

sulu-design said...

I love it - you are reminded of the Camus quote while reading teen literature, and I am only familiar with it from a magnet on my parents' refrigerator! Nevertheless, I'm so glad that you posted it today, because I'm needing a bit of that invincible summer right about now. May your sister's underwear supply know no bounds.

Unknown said...

is the first picture lavender? to me it looks like a corner of brooklyn botanical gardens, (the squills or wood hyaciths that grow there)

And squills remind me of Amy Lowell's Patterns
.....
daffodils and squills give way
to pillared roses, and to asters, and to snow,
and still i go,
up and down, the garden path,
gorgously arrayed,
boned and stayed,
the softness of my body
guarded from embrace
by each button, hook and lace...

Chickenbells said...

Those pictures are just beautiful...I'm in AZ, and it's been in the mid to high 60's all week. While it's been fun to catch up on my hiking...this kind of heat is just a bit too strange for this time of year. So...I guess I'll get to do my laundry. sigh.

Amanda Jean said...

lovely photographs...the bottom one is my favorite! thanks for a glimpse of spring! It cannot come soon enough for me. :)

Anonymous said...

These photos were just what I needed to see, it's freezing over here and I'm so longing for Spring to arrive! I'm glad i found your blog this afternoon. :)

Ari (Baking and Books)

African Kelli said...

Such a pretty and peaceful post. I can tell you that if an Arizonan had written that quote, it would be the other way around. In the summer, I often have to remind myself there is a winter just a few months away.

Steffi said...

Very beautiful pictures!!

:O) Steffi

Anonymous said...

Aggh! Yet another reason to envy all twins.