As I prowled around for simplicity photos (since the paltry few I took this week were anything but inspired), I found myself drawn again and again to summer photos. Maybe summer seems simple to me this time of year because going outside with two children in warm weather does not involve twenty minutes of bundling. Or maybe I was drawn to these photos because they were all taken on vacation, on uncomplicated days where what to eat was the most pressing concern.
The first photo was taken after a walk on the Jersey shore with my niece and nephew. We build sand castles and kicked around a ball. We walked back to the hotel and washed off the sand in the outdoor shower, then my husband and nephew dove into the deserted pool. The sun had gone down but the air was still warm, and we were the only ones using the pool in the darkening evening.
The second photo was taken at Kainalu Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, where my husband attended school as a child. He says he always went to school barefoot.
The last was taken in the carport at Edward Gorey's house on Cape Cod. Jenny and I visited the house this summer. It wasn't a house of simplicity—Gorey collected many things: cats, rocks, Coptic crosses, cheese graters, fur coats. But after the tour Jenny and I went outside and poked around. It was quieter without our tour guide's rehearsed anecdotes, and the old house and grounds were full of delights. There was a simple ease in each others presence—on the same continent, in the same time zone, without children or husbands or a bad cell phone connection.
Today is also my birthday.
