Before the Peaches Disappear: Moving from Survival to Presence in July

a july almanac: notes on slow mid-summer days, books recs. to ponder about independence differently, a july bucket list, a Lana Del Rey soundtrack, and a seasonal watchlist.

Summer rewards those who are willing to adjust their rhythm.

Since summer can be so brutal in Texas, I try look at what it brings with wonder and excitement. The peaches are finally sweet enough to eat over the sink. Tomatoes barely make it home from the farmers market before becoming lunch. Charcoal drifts through neighborhoods almost every evening, and somewhere, someone is making salsa with tomatoes they probably grew themselves. The garden hums with bees, butterflies dance between coneflowers, hummingbirds make their morning rounds, and every sunset seems determined to outdo the one before it.

It’s also the easiest month to waste.

The heat convinces us to stay inside. We postpone the road trip. We order groceries instead of wandering the farmers market. We promise ourselves we’ll watch the sunset tomorrow.

I’ll be honest, I have been guilty of all of it.

There have been Julys where I practically hibernated. Groceries were delivered, appointments were carefully avoided, and if friends wanted to see me, they were coming to my house because I wasn’t stepping outside unless absolutely necessary.

But this year feels different. Instead of surviving July, I want to experience it.

Because if there is one thing this month teaches us, it’s that abundance doesn’t last forever. The peaches disappear. The tomatoes fade. The long evenings slowly grow shorter. Before we know it, August arrives carrying hints that another summer is slipping away.

So here’s to not wasting July. Let’s live it fully.

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Let July Decide Dinner

One of my favorite things about July is that it has already decided what’s for dinner. All we have to do is pay attention.

Walk through a farmers market and you’ll find peaches stacked in wooden crates, sweet corn waiting to be grilled, tomatoes so ripe they barely need more than flaky salt and olive oil, fragrant basil begging to become pesto, juicy melons, berries, and bouquets you didn’t plan on buying but somehow can’t leave behind.

July isn’t the month for complicated recipes. It’s the month for letting incredible ingredients do most of the work. Let peaches become dessert before you even think about baking a cake. Grill the corn. Slice the tomatoes thick. Blend the watermelon into agua fresca. Make fresh salsa while tomatoes still taste like sunshine.

Sometimes the best summer menu isn’t planned at all, it begins with whatever July is generous enough to offer

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The Soundtrack of July

Every season has a soundtrack. Autumn belongs to jazz. December belongs to old Christmas records.

But July?

July belongs to Lana Del Rey.

There is something about her music that feels inseparable from this month. Long highways disappearing into the horizon. American flags catching the wind outside roadside diners. Cherry Coke. Neon motel signs flickering to life at dusk. County fairs. Summer heat rising from the pavement after sunset. In the heavy, blinding glare of a Texas summer, her cinematic melancholia just makes sense. Her music lives somewhere between nostalgia and freedom, where every romance feels a little too short and every road trip feels like it could change your life.

Maybe that’s why one lyric has become almost synonymous with summer:

Hot summer nights, mid-July / When you and I were forever wild - Lana Del Rey

Who hasn’t had a summer that lingers long after it ended? The kind you only remember in flashes: the song that was always playing, the drive you wish had lasted longer, the person whose name still finds you every July. Lana understands that feeling better than almost anyone. Her songs aren’t really about forever. They’re about moments. One summer. One romance. One highway. One memory.

Maybe that’s why she feels so perfectly at home in July.

Whether you're a longtime fan or listening for the first time, let Lana Del Rey score one long drive this month. Roll the windows down. Take the scenic route home. July deserves a soundtrack.

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A Night That Brings Us Together

Whatever the Fourth of July means to you personally, it’s difficult to deny how deeply woven it is into the rhythm of an American summer.

The smell of charcoal drifting through neighborhoods. Folding chairs pulled into driveways hours before the fireworks begin. Children running through the yard with sparklers. Popsicles melting faster than they’re eaten. Someone insisting the burgers need just five more minutes.

For a few hours, people who disagree about almost everything stand shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the same sky. Maybe that’s part of what makes the evening so memorable. The fireworks only last twenty minutes, but they remind us that wonder still has the power to gather strangers together.

Whether you’re celebrating with family, hosting friends, or simply watching the fireworks from your backyard, I hope you take a moment to look around. July has a way of reminding us that some of life’s best memories happen outside.

its a joke

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Read About Someone Else's Independence

One of the things I love most about July is that it quietly reminds me every country has a story about becoming itself.

We naturally think about Independence Day here in the United States, but independence has been fought for, celebrated, mourned, and remembered all over the world. Mexico. India. Greece. Haiti. Ireland. Poland. South Africa. Every nation carries its own stories of courage, sacrifice, resilience, and hope. History has a beautiful way of making distant places feel surprisingly familiar.

This month, choose one country you’ve never really learned about before. Read a novel rooted in its history. Watch a documentary. Learn how another nation fought to become itself. You may come away understanding your own country a little differently.

If you're looking to spend this July seeing the world through a different lens, these are the books I'd begin with:

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

If you’re drawn to stories that live in the gray rather than the black and white, this is one to savor. The Sympathizer doesn’t ask you to choose sides as much as it asks you to sit with contradiction. It’s thoughtful, and unsettling novel about identity, memory, and what it means to belong after your world has been turned upside down.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is a novel that reminds us wars are never fought only on battlefields. They unfold around dinner tables, inside family homes, in friendships, and in the ordinary routines that slowly begin to disappear. It captures the hope that accompanies the dream of a new nation, while never looking away from the cost of that dream. It’s heartbreaking, compassionate, and impossible to forget.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Some stories stretch across decades; this one stretches across generations. Homegoing gently reminds us that the consequences of history don’t end when the headlines do. They echo through families, shaping identities long after the events themselves have passed. It’s one of those rare novels that leaves you thinking not only about where people come from, but about everything they carry with them.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Not every struggle for freedom is fought across oceans. Some happen quietly, close to home. Inspired by real events, this novel explores the fight to protect Indigenous sovereignty through the lives of ordinary people. Offering a beautiful reminder that preserving freedom can be just as important as winning it.

What I love most about these books is that they don't read like history lessons. They invite us to experience history through someone else's eyes. They remind us that behind every revolution, every border, and every declaration of independence are families, friendships, heartbreaks, and quiet moments of resilience.

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July as an Act of Stewardship

If you’re new to gardening in Texas, July will humble you.

You stop checking the weather hoping for rain and start bargaining with it instead. Every afternoon feels like another battle against spider mites, aphids, squash bugs, and whatever new villain has decided your garden looks particularly appetizing this week.

July isn’t planting season here. It’s stewardship.

It means watering before sunrise, deadheading yesterday’s blooms, and pulling a few weeds before breakfast. It’s hard work, but it forces us to celebrate every sunflower still standing tall and every coneflower buzzing with bees. Because despite the heat, July is still breathtaking. Butterflies drift from bloom to bloom. Russian sage dances in the breeze. Black-eyed Susans refuse to quit, and zinnias bloom like little fireworks.

This is the month where gardeners earn autumn. While we're keeping everything alive, we're already dreaming about cooler mornings and the vegetables we'll plant when fall finally arrives.

Note: And if you need more help romanticizing summer, you might enjoy revisiting June’s journal, A Guide to Romanticizing Summer.

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Things Worth Leaving the House For

The temptation to stay inside all month is real. Believe me, I understand. But July is still happening outside, which means we just have to be more intentional about our outings.

Go to an independent bookstore. Catch a matinee. Spend an afternoon wandering through a museum or browsing a flea market. Go to a lake and take a dip, or go on a hunt for the best ice cream in town.

Take a drive to the next town over. Mine is Fort Worth. I never seem to leave without having a wonderful day and an even better bowl of ramen, yes, even in July. Sometimes all we need is a simple reason to leave the house.

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Add It to Your July Watchlist

A curated list of everything I'm excited to watch this month, from highly anticipated returns to brand-new stories.

📺Survival of the Thickets (Season 3) – July 2:
Inspired by Michelle Buteau’s memoir, Mavis Beaumont is a plus-sized Black woman rebuilding her life as a struggling stylist after a messy breakup. If you haven't started this laugh-out-loud comedy yet, you have two full seasons to binge-watch in the AC.

📺Silos (Season 3) – July 3:
Premiering right on the eve of Independence Day, this dystopian thriller drops us back into a ruined, toxic future. A community survives in a massive underground silo plunging hundreds of stories deep, bound by strict regulations meant to protect them. This show is absolutely gripping.

📺Ride or Die – July 15:
I will watch absolutely anything Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham are in. This new action-comedy series follows two best friends whose worlds turn upside down when long-buried secrets begin to surface.

📺The Hawk – July 16:
Starring Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, this is bound to be a hilariously chaotic watch. It follows Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, a former champion golfer on the back nine of his career looking to make an unlikely comeback.

📺King of the Hill – July 20:
There is no better show to watch while hiding from a Texas July. Arlen feels exactly like home, Hank Hill's obsession with propane and lawn care hits differently when it's 102 degrees outside, and the dry, affectionate Texas humor is the ultimate comfort food for a hot summer night.

📺Furious – July 27:
If you loved Emmy Rossum in Shameless you’ll want to glue yourself to the couch for this one. This dark, slow-burn psychological thriller completely flips the script on traditional crime dramas. Rossum plays an FBI agent locked in a tense, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with a coldly calculating female serial killer.

📺The Ridge – July 27:
A Scottish doctor takes refuge with her sister in a remote New Zealand town, only to find her sister has mysteriously died. Shock turns to mounting horror as she’s drawn into a web of small-town lies. (Thank god for international streaming alternatives!)

📼 Jaws (Classic Rec):
This film was my personal introduction to the American 4th of July. I was living in Mexico at the time, and I completely fell in love with the iconic score, the pacing, and the coastal atmosphere. It was shot on location, and you can truly feel the weight of the shadows. They simply don't make movies like this anymore.

📼 Independence Day (Classic Rec):
This movie is a pure holiday tradition for me. It is a mandatory requirement to have this playing loudly in the background while I’m cooking on the 4th of July. It is the perfect blend of high-stakes 90s action, heart, and pure fun.

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A Few Dates Worth Noting

🚴Tour de France – July 4 through July 26:
Watching the Tour feels like taking a winding European road trip without ever leaving your sofa. Every stage offers a new rolling landscape, a historic village, and an escape from the heat.

🎆 Independence Day - July 4:
This year’s Fourth of July feels especially significant. It marks 250 years since the United States declared its independence. A milestone woven into a day already filled with backyard cookouts, sparklers, parades, and skies lit up long after sunset.

⚽ The World cup Final – July 19:
The final whistle always feels a little bittersweet.

For a month, the tournament makes the world feel small. We cheer for our own countries, of course, but somewhere along the way we begin cheering for the people too. You see the joy on one side, the heartbreak on the other, and you realize just how much ninety minutes of football can mean to an entire nation.

Note: I truly am in awe of how far Mexico has come, and what an incredible team the United States has put together.

🌕Full “Buck Moon” – July 29
Also called the Thunder Moon, it gets its name from the time of year when young bucks begin growing their antlers. It feels like a moon meant for becoming. A reminder that growth can be quiet, tender, and still incredibly powerful. Step outside after sunset, look up, and enjoy the show. No project to complete; just a beautiful cosmic reminder.

💐International Day of Friendship – July 30
Is a gentle reminder to celebrate the people who make our lives richer. The friend who always answers the phone, the neighbor who brings over tomatoes from their garden, and the childhood friend who still knows your favorite ice cream order.

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Before July Slips Away Bucket List

Before the month slips away here is a list of small pleasures, seasonal traditions, and memorable moments worth making time for this summer.

• Watch fireworks light up the sky on a warm summer night.

• Spend a morning peach picking at a local orchard.

• Lose an afternoon inside a quiet, independent bookstore.

• Wander the farmers market and let whatever is fresh decide what’s for dinner.

• Stay outside until midnight at least once just to listen to the dark.

• Learn to spot one new constellation in the summer sky.

• Roll the windows down and listen to Lana Del Rey during a long, aimless drive.

• Cool off with a spontaneous water balloon fight in the backyard.

• Escape the afternoon heat at a local bowling alley.

• Hunt for hidden treasures and vintage goods at a weekend flea market.

• Find a lake or a pool and take a long, refreshing swim.

• Spend an hour flipping through crates to hunt for a new vinyl record.

• Sit on the porch and watch the heavy summer moon rise over the trees.

• Channel your inner child: construct a simple homemade kite, head to the park, and fly it.

• Lay out a blanket on the grass for an evening of quiet stargazing.

• Promise yourself you won’t let July become just another month on the calendar.

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One Last Thing

Before July slips away, I have one small challenge for you.

Stay outside until midnight. Just once.

Listen to the rhythmic hum of the cicadas. Watch the moon rise over the tree line. See if you can spot a constellation you didn’t know before. Make s’mores over an open flame if you can.

July asks so much of us. It asks us to endure the heat, battle mosquitoes, water thirsty gardens, and somehow keep showing up anyway. But if we’re willing to slow down long enough to notice it, July gives so much back.

So eat the peach while it’s dripping down your wrist. Buy the flowers. Take a road trip. Grill dinner. Take the long way home with Lana Del Rey playing through the speakers.

Don’t let July become just another month on the calendar. It only visits once a year.

– Lily Hawthorne

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