This weekend was strange.  That’s the only way I can explain it.  There were these moments of pure relaxation and summer, and there was some serious family sadness.  It’s hard to reconcile those two extremes in the space of just a few days.  Then to really confuse the matter, there were these miscellaneous everyday things added to the mix.  There was a great $13 haircut and productive projects.  I did laundry, Scott fixed our drippy shower.  See what I mean?  Everything felt pretty surreal when added together.

My favorite thing about the weekend is that despite the strangeness and the sadness, the beauty was striking.  We hiked by this:

The weather was perfect.  We’re talking early spring day with fog and cool breezes and little moments of sunshine (in the middle of June!).  We needed a nap, so we took a nap in the car before the hike.  Dream come true, right?  We woke up in the warm car and hiked 3.3 miles.  Then we got some homemade peach ice cream at our favorite country store and picked up some fresh peaches and pepper jelly while we were at it.  It was summer at its best.

Today I’m grateful that beauty and peace don’t disappear when things get tough.  They can be hard to find, but they’re still there.