I hear that kids are heading back to school this week. Which means, I suppose, that summer is over. Did it ever really begin? Work proceeds apace and my time away has been dictated by family obligations. Thinking about gearing up for full bore fall productivity makes me long for a stretch of emptied out days that never really materialized this summer. Like journalist David Shribman I’m wondering whatever happened to the “idyll of idleness?” The closest I’ve come was a day this week photographing “white” as part of Susannah Conway’s August Break photo challenge. Here’s a bit of what I saw.

I spied creamy melons at the supermarket

 And chalky fire hydrants dotting my neighborhood.

I found alabaster in the shimmering West Elm light fixture over my dining room table

And frost on the watch band near my bubble bath nails.

I took in the speckled bone surface of a serious sphinx on my early morning walk in the cemetery

 And the lacy ivories of the wedding dresses that live at my house.

All those shimmering shades of white proved nearly as restful as an afternoon on a sandy beach letting the sound of the waves wash away my many-hued concerns. Even if you’re already back in the thick of things, try looking for the white in your August to find a bit of that idyllic summer you almost missed.