Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saturday Soliloquy-- My Summer Reading Sanctuary


I'd like to commend all of you for your patience. You watched me get ready to go sit out in the pool and read last Saturday... and then you didn't get a chance to actually see the pool. Shame on me!

Here 'tis. For once it was overcast when I went outside to take the photo, so the colors aren't washed out. There's a small solar fountain sitting in a bed of trailing rosemary (which smells wonderful), and above it a hanging basket of blooms for the hummingbirds, who also like to drink out of the solar fountain. There's my umbrella shading my seat down at the deep end of the pool, which is a few feet away from the waterfall. When the waterfall is running, birds like to come take a bath.

All sorts of wonderful little "moments" have occurred while I've been sitting here calmly reading. A hummingbird has perched on my hat. A tiny lizard decided to rest on my shoulder. A damselfly relaxed on my book and didn't even move when I turned pages. I'm always having visitors show up to rest in the shade of my umbrella. Take for example this Blue Dasher dragonfly. It's the latest in a long line of critters to come say howdy and sit in the shade with me. Like me, they all know this is The best place to read a good book! (All photos are clickable if you'd like to see them full size.)


How many of you would sit in the pool with me to read? Denis does. We both think of this spot as a little bit of heaven on earth. If you wouldn't sit in the pool with me, would you relax on one of the lounge chairs a few feet away? (Slightly older photo, but the set-up is the same.)


I think you can all see why I LOVE summer! What are your favorite summer reading spots?



23 comments:

  1. That is definitely a sanctuary. I would love to have such a gorgeous place to sit and read!

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  2. Ah! I love dragonflys and lizards. We have both in our garden and around our cottage. But sit with you in the pool, reading? I can assure you I have to stretch my imagination. So far June in Denmark has been beastly cold! Rain, storm, clouds...
    I really don´t know why we are going to Scotland in July, and not Arizona. But thank you for sharing your paradise. I think I´ll go and have a HOT bath (we don´t have a tub so I´d better leave my book downstairs).

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  3. I'd join you in the pool and on a lounger, depending on how hot it is! I'd love to have a pool like that! It's not very warm in England today, but my favourite place to read in the summer is in our garden underneath the cherry tree. Maybe I'll get out there this afternoon.

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  4. This fits right in with the "scene of the blog" series --- the scene of read.

    Truly beautiful! So peaceful and serene. I am sure that I would spend many hours each day beside the pool, if I lived there.

    Thanks so much sharing

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  5. This is such a beautiful place!! I would definitely join you on the loungers and read for the day.

    Thank you for sharing your reading space with us.

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  6. I wish I could hop on a plane this morning! Your pool is gorgeous. I think all the critters know that they've found a friend in you.

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  7. Gorgeous! I would definitely join you for some reading in the pool, on the lounge chair ... it wouldn't matter as long as I was by this pool. Enjoy!

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  8. I feel a strong urge to use obsceneties as in I am f*****g ENVIOUS of your pool. GOSH!!!!! You are living my dream :-D Only thing I am not envious of is that ugly bug. Hate bugs. With a venegance. LOL.

    Everything else looks gorgeous.

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  9. And btw, Dorte is right - I saw people wearing mittens yesterday. its been darn cold here in DK. And windy. And loads of rain. And summer begins June 1 according to our almanac. Haven't seen much of that this year so far....

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  10. Ha, ha, you forgot to mention the temperature! I feel the perfect place for reading in Tucson in the summer is SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! :--)

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  11. Meghan--I'm glad you like it. :)

    Dorte--I hope the weather in Denmark remembers it's summer before summer is over!

    Margaret--Sitting beneath the cherry tree sounds lovely!

    Molly--Sounds like the caption for another weekly feature: Scene of the Read. :)

    Kara--You're welcome!

    Kathy--I'd even meet you at the airport!

    B&B's Mom--Sounds like it's going to be a summertime reading pool party!

    Louise--I'll just tell the dragonflies to leave you alone and come sit on my books! ;)

    Rhapsody--It may very well be...since I live in Phoenix! ;) When you're sitting in the pool in the shade, it's honestly not hot.

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  12. What a lovely place to use for a reading retreat!

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  13. Jenclair--You have the eye of a true artist, so this compliment means a great deal to me. :)

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  14. I'll be over around sixish . . .

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  15. This is torture as my toes are freezing just now on a winter's evening. But I'm delighted by your pool for your sake!

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  16. Love the water feature! I read and swing in a hammock under two 100+ year old maples beside a corn field.

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  17. Susan--That's one bad thing about being on different ends of the planet. When you're warm in your summer, I'll be the cold one!

    Luanne--your sanctuary sounds great, too!

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  18. I would definitely float on an orange float chair, cool beverage in hand, while you read.

    Wow, what a case of deja vu I just had. ;-)

    --Mike

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  19. Huummm. When you hear that knock on your door, you'll know who it is! Lovely spot.

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  20. Mike--That bright orange float was destroyed by the British Invasion. :( If I get a new one, will you come down SOON???

    Beth--Thanks. Make sure you bring a couple of good books to read!

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  21. It's beautiful! It's so much prettier than my pool area! It's what I picture when I think of what I would like our pool area to look like. Envy envy envy

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  22. Kris--Hopefully you'll be able to get your pool area just the way you want it soon!

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