Before I purchase a new pencil (a September ritual), a look back at Summer 2013:

Is it possible to come down from an Alpine high?* I gave it a valiant effort, and an annual trek to a Algonquin Park family reunion almost boosted me back up, but Austria, you win the best moment of my summer.

It doesn’t help that most of August was spent spewing profanities as my basement was torn up after an eventful spring here in the money pit, following a break in, sewage problems and spring and summer floods. If all the glory came and went with June and July,  August was a blur of dust and noise as we packed up my oldest kid for residence life.

Happy inside the new home away from home!

Still, summer is never without charm…

No screens. That’s summer. Now onto fall…

* to read more about my Austrian adventure, see:
One strudel from nirvana
The real world class city
Calling for kitsch
Facing my fear at high altitude