Dana Burland

We’re back home from a 4-day trip to one of the best spots in the state. Certainly the best spot “Up North”, in my opinion. This was Adrian’s first trip up north! None of us had been up since last fall , actually. It was the first time wrangling two boys in the car for a long drive. The first time Cam slept in a big bed solo. The first time for sparklers and s’mores and walking barefoot in the waterfall where I played for endless hours as a kid. The first walk down the pier where we had to take The Picture with Cam in front of the lighthouse that I so hope we’ll recreate year after year as he gets older. Our weather was not amazing, it was chilly and rained almost every day. We also didn’t let that stop us. The best evidence was the drive home where both our boys uncharacteristically slept for the entire three hour ride--we really had the most fun.

This year did not go as planned . Things I assumed from years past didn’t shake out the same way, like my rosemary which failed to take off because it was in a new spot shadowed by towering basil. I adjusted and tried new things, but didn’t think I’d feel so gut punched by failed dahlias, nothing strawberries and mowed-down-by-bunnies green beans. And then there were the bees. A surprise hive formed underground and spread like a rampant, resistant and immune to all my combative attempts. It grew rapidly to the point where it wasn’t safe to access my parsley or snap peas at all. It took a community effort and time to calm it--our kind neighbor covering the hive in the dark of the night with orders to let it sit for the weekend. Still, I saw small pockets of swarming, but not like the initial big wave, and now it’s quiet but lurking again. But sometimes, in spite of it all, I saw resilient growth. My basil was steady and strong again this year, and my parsley was unassumingly t...