Summer’s almost over and I did not get enough salt water. When I’m not by the sea, I dream about the sea. Here’s an ocean piece that I made using a piece of wood from the shed and my kids’ paintings ripped into pieces and collaged.

We were fortunate to get an invitation to spend the weekend on the shore in Beaufort, NC with the Hogans at the home of David’s very generous and hospitable Mom. Thank you Lucy and Barry! When I grow up I want to be just like you: in, on, and by the water. We got even more luck to arrive in Beaufort the same night as the pirate invasion, an annual event in which “pirates” (people who like to drink grog (grog is anything you like to drink!)) gather to reenact the towns’ siege by Black Beard. We dressed up the boys and walked around. They thought they’d died and gone to sword-wielding, argh-snarling heaven. Greta carried a fish around all night long. She’s my pacifist.

Other than our trip to the coast and another to D.C., we’ve been home all summer. I’m ready for school to start. Alex, Greta and I will all head our separate ways for at least a few hours a few times a week. I’m so lucky to have had such an intimate summer with them. I don’t think Alex and Greta would be such good friends with out having been on top of each other for three months. But I’m starting to feel like a three-headed monster. Bring on the books.