Summer Fun Through the Years

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights of your life to choose love and light.

We are officially in summer in the Northern Hemisphere and that is the inspiration behind our suggested July post theme, Summer Fun. And if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps our post will warm you and you’ll come away with ideas for your December Summer Fun.

On top of the idea of Summer Fun, I layer my dislike of heat and humidity. It is a bit more than dislike…I am physically sick and have spent time in an emergency room due to my body’s inability to deal with it. However, despite that, I have had wondrous summers!

As a child, my family spent a week each summer at The Oregon Coast. That started when I was eight years old. It is still one of my favorite places in the world. I have seen lovely beaches in Australia, Croatia, and Slovenia as well as along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean.

For me, the main attraction of The Oregon Coast is the wave action. Waves crashing on rocks, spray glittering in the sun, the pounding vibration as they collapse touches my soul.

Photo by Wollertz
Easier to find this on DepositPhoto than search through
50 photo albums looking for one I took

Fun for me now is Not climbing the rocks or even hiking miles along the strips of sand searching for agates. Those are yesteryear memories. Today’s fun is looking out at the vastness of the water, searching for signs of whale spouts as I continue, decades and decades later, feeling the power of the waves sink into my bones.

Another Summer Fun activity that lasted for over forty years is attending the William Glasser Institute’s annual conference. The USA’s member of this group has changed its name to The Glasser Institute for Choice Theory – US. I’m missing the International conference this year in Chicago but am already planning on attending the 2025 conference slated to be in Los Angeles, CA.

Because of this organization, I’ve been to areas of the United States I would never have seen as well as several countries.

Outside the USA?

Canada (both Montreal and Vancouver),
Australia’s east coast (Sidney, Carnes, Great Barrier Reef, Butterfly Sanctuary),
Ireland (and had adventures galore outside the conference),
Croatia and Slovenia (during the Balkan War no less as well as after it).

I took my granddaughters with me to the Edinburgh, Scotland conference. We spent time before the conference in London and toured Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Avebury as well as Canterbury, Leeds Castle and Dover.

Stonehenge

Black Swans at Leeds Castle

I found Dover to be a very emotional experience. My Uncle Jim served in the WWII as a bombardier. You know, the guy who sits in the plastic nose of the bomber, exposed to the attacks of the enemy planes in order to better site the dropping of the bombs. What I will say is that he, like so many others, came home changed. He talked to me at one point about that experience. Being there on the beach at Dover, seeing the chalk white cliffs and remembering his words of relief when they came into view on the way home shook me. I’ll never forget seeing what he saw and remembering his words as I did so.

On a brighter note, after the Edinburgh Conference we took a tour to Loch Ness and another one to see The Highlands.

Some of my very best and lifelong friends I met in the early days of my involvement in the work of Dr. Glasser. (I started my formal training in August 1978.). Some good friends I met a few years later. What is special about this organization is that we have a shared framework for seeing the world around us and a process to find answers to issues or problems over which we do have some control.

In this last half of 2024, my focus will continue to be on regaining my health, connecting with family and friends and if all goes as planned (when does it ever), I’ll finish my half-finished non-fiction Yes, You Can Create The Life You Love. It’s based on a seminar I created in the 1980’s, “Love, Worth, Fun, Freedom: How To Get More”.

I know that if that book is finished and Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available in audio book by January 01, 2025, I’ll consider 2024 to have been a resounding success.

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

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© 2024 Judith Ashley