So, this is my love letter to the present moment.

Even the mundane ones.

Today, while wiping streaks from my bathroom mirror, an old TV jingle popped into my head: “For that streak-free shine!”

Remember those commercials? The smiling woman in a sunlit kitchen, spotless counters, domestic bliss.

Even in the ’80s and ’90s, we were sold the image that satisfaction came from a perfect home.

But now we’re sold not just the perfect home, but the perfect family, perfect vacation and the summer with the most Insta worthy photos…

Well, we all know, it’s not always perfect.

And yet, here I am.. grateful for my home, and just as grateful I’m not tethered to it.

I can clean the mirror and still ride into the wild wind.

I can parent one week and explore the next. I can anchor here, and still drift a little.

I can fly to California to see the ocean, visit a friend, paddle-board on the bay.

But when I can’t be on a trip, or feel the thrill of a Red Rocks concert under the stars… there are also those Summer Moments That Hold Me.

Not the Milestones.

Not the big Adventure…

The Moments.

That’s what these last few weekends have taught me.

Simple Joys Close to Home

A bike ride with no phone, trusting myself to find the way home - just me, my inner compass, and following the curve of the river.

If you want to read the full voice-note inspired post on the ride, it’s posted here… but today, I’m focusing on what happened after I came home that day.

A simple birthday for my oldest. His favorite cake (carrot),

13 candles counted out together,

just one friend with us, and the squeals opening a Star Wars game.

“Will you play with me?”

Of course.

Sour moods from the week melted away as we sat on the floor, his quick mind mastering the rules in minutes.

An evening outside with my 6-year-old. Lying in the grass, looking at clouds, hearing birds… until the cold shock of his spray bottle ambush.

I tell him to stop when it hits my face, but his laughter makes me close my eyes and dissolve into giggles too.

Curling up in his playroom, betting on which predator will win - the shark or the crocodile. He celebrates like it’s the first time, even though we’ve read this battle a hundred times before.

The sound of summer thunderstorms.

Neighbors walking in the cool evening.

Ice cream dripping down chins.

Laughing at a burp that escapes through guzzling down soda bubbles.

These moments can help us anchor back into what is most important to us, where our values lie, and sometimes redeem some bad moments from the week behind us, or even some years behind us.

Truths I’m Letting Settle

These are the moments. Not the Instagram likes on travel photos. Not compliments at work. Not even hitting goals.

The small ones - presence, closeness, joy.

Uncomplicated. Unplanned.

Just us. Just life. Marking summers, not only with adventures or big trips, but with noticing each other. The sky. The raindrops on our skin or the chance to be tagged “it” in the middle of a field.

I want more of them. To stop for them. To run after them.

To turn away from my phone, my work, my what-ifs,

and see what is.

Difficult days will come, but they’re just moments, not derailments. We can bring ourselves back… through our breath, through our presence.

The simple things make life so very rich.

What have you noticed lately as the summer days stretch on?

What’s one simple thing you could do this week to create a little magic?

No shame in the moments we missed - just a gentle nudge to notice what’s still here, still sweet, still waiting.

Sending some warm summer hugs and spray-bottle spritzes of joy your way.

~so