sayonara summer (a party for friends)

beating the leaves to their insistence on turning colors is very important.

like a boyfriend you don't want to say goodbye to,

you have to say goodbye

before he does.

get to the punch line before he 

punches you in the kisser by saying goodbye.

and so we said goodbye to her,

to our beloved summer 2011--

for me it was london

paris

rome

alps

peach gelato

& tented markets
tea parties in kensington gardens

& roman & giacomo & cammell

& trains trains trains.

but most of all the bunting.

so i made a cake to celebrate that part,

and mindy and nate made Oreo balls the size of golfballs to celebrate the hail in the east

andrea brought peanuts for all her international flights

holly pudding

amy crisps

and desi a tray of symbol-inscribed brownies.

daniel made the switzerland bread braided like i braid my hair

and i'm pretty sure amanda brought peachies?

katie guacamole from her ranch's avocados

nathan's herbed olives (with pits!) from marseilles

carolann some provo peaches 

(peaches that have my dinner group relocating monday dinner to allred orchards)

amber homemade bread from home with real apple butter

and mysterious seven layer bars that i'm not sure who brought but man were they delish.

(who am i forgetting?)

*  *  *

my favorite thing to watch at parties like this is how all my circles of friends end up knowing each other

how dinner group people 

know london people

know ward people

know cousin people.

it's a small and lovelily comfortable world i live in,

a small and lovelily comfortable sphere.

thanks for the wall of letters to summer,

thanks for cheering when we cut the cake,

thanks for being the kinds of friends that at parties everyone comments on what cool friends i have.

sayonara summer,

we loved you so.