Yesterday I took my mom in for her back shots, and (as always) I brought at least a week’s worth of crochet with me.

I situated myself next to a window where both the light and cellphone reception were good, and I got to work, making any number of light and dark green squares, and finishing the several two-color diagonal squares I needed to finish the large tree in the center panel of this year’s state fair project.

The tree is one that looms large in my memory, just as it loomed large in my grandmother’s yard.

I spent a fair amount of the summer at my grandmother’s under that tree as it was huge and provided substantial and reliable shade, an absolute must in the often triple digit heat of a Fresno summer.

It was there that I turned cartwheels, played with my trolls, read books, and just sat and thought about the sorts of things that one sits and thinks about in the summer.

Today, after I had dispensed with the laundry that had been accumulating over the past few days, I sat on my back deck and finished making as many pieces as I could, weaving in the ends as I went along, and here was the result:

As I head into this weekend, I need to make 42 more light green squares, figure out how I will represent the field beyond the grass, and spend some time on my back deck, thinking about the sorts of things one sits and thinks about in summer.