It's already a new month, apparently?!
One that arrived so quickly it has quite literally taken our breath away. Sure, "time flies" (whether or not you're having fun, it turns out), but to us, May seemed particularly discombobulated this year: a big abstract fragment of a month, interrupted by several long weekends and non-brand-name holidays (Pfingsten, anyone? Himmelfahrt?); vaguely spring but not yet the yearned-for summer; neither vacation nor a totally serious month in the way that, say, October is...
I'm trying to blame it on the month, but truly, life has been speeding along apace for the two of us recently: the final weeks of pregnancy are upon Barbara, as is the packing of an apartment into millions of boxes - and its unpacking three days later into a little house; there are family visits for both of us to contend with (in a good way); and, besides all of that, tons of travel around our own backyards and further afield - from the lakes of Berlin and the parks of London to Rome and Tuscany, swaths of the U.S., basically every region of France, plus weird, unheard-of corners of Germany nevertheless served by ICE trains.
I'm not complaining, I'm just saying there's a lot that's happening IRL lately. So as we start our third (!) ISSUE, we are looking to slow down the pace, and move into what my mother calls "Turtle Time" and what Jimmy Buffet describes as “Margaritaville.”
Instead of radically changing gears every four weeks, we're taking a long view for summer and talking about HOLIDAYS all June, July, and August. Specifically:
THE SEA - June
sea-salt and waves, rip-tides and clam shacks, our favorite salt water(s), ocean-love and sea-poetry
HOTELS - July
our favorite classic hotel bars, collecting (but not stealing) hotel silver, how to best order from a room service menu, and the blissful quiet of blackout curtains and fresh sheets
THE COUNTRY - August
country houses and tales of the open road, old-time train journeys, golden fields, quiet lakes, green parks and secret gardens and the restoration that all that these things provide
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We'll also be bringing you a list of the best SUMMER BOOKS to read wherever the warm weather takes you; more advice and etiquette from DEAR DIANA; assorted and charming MIX TAPES; and of course more from our favorite people on TRAVELING LIGHT.
If May was a time-bending and time-morphing month in the weirdest of ways - scooping up hours, days, and weeks and haphazardly scattering them where we couldn't find them- then this summer’s HOLIDAYS ISSUE shall surely be a relaxing back into a slower, more genteel pace.
We hope these next months bring you rest and happiness, bringing you to your favorite spot on earth so you can take a nap there. If not in reality, then via the magic of the internet, on Olympia Monthly.
XO, L & B
