As a kid, summer meant school was out, and thus it was always my favorite season back then. Today, though, I appreciate it for vastly different reasons.
First off, summer is a blessing and a curse being married to a musician. It’s a time when my husband is gone the most on the road, as summer equates to “the touring season.” So its a beautiful time of year that I’m left trying to find ways to entertain myself alone a good chunk of the time. However, its also the feast part of feast-or-famine, if you know what I mean.
That being said, though, there is a magic to summer — whether you are alone or with your significant other — that will take you over if you let it.
I think that what summer pretty much equates to for me is a chance to relax. Even as I may be super busy with any number of things, summer just seems to bring this want and need to let it all go. Relax. The beauty of it is that even the most simple acts can equate to relaxation.
I was never “a boat person” until a couple of years ago. Which is when I discovered there is a lot of fun to be had sitting on a boat, just floating on a lake with friends. It gets you away from the computer, the traffic, and some of your responsibilities for a few hours. Its a chance to reset for awhile.
My husband and I don’t have a boat, so we’re at the mercy of our friends as to when we get to go out on the lake. However, it doesn’t stop us from packing up a picnic lunch and sitting out by lake for awhile. It’s not the same, but its close enough for me!
We enjoy taking drives through the country. Recently, I’ve noticed a major increase in the number of fireflies. At the drive-in theater that we went to last week, fireflies twinkled all through the air around us as we watched a movie and munched on popcorn. There’s something about fireflies that, even as an adult, makes me believe in magic. (Adds an element of romance as well!)
The humidity recently has made the air thick and uncomfortable, chasing me indoors to my air conditioning. But then nights like tonight will come, when a gentle breeze feels almost cool in the summer heat. Crickets chirp a song of summer, one that lulls me to a deep relaxation. I could sit for hours doing nothing but listening to nature, feeling the breeze, and smelling whatever scents come my way. Flowers in the garden or fresh cut grass. Perhaps someone just made barbecue.
Its all about letting that summer magic once again do its thing.
Growing up in Texas, summer always meant long strings of 100+ temperatures. Misery had a whole new definition on days like that. Yet as night fell, the warmth stayed but the sting of the sun’s rays disappeared. You’d be beckoned outside.
July 4th weekend called for watermelons on the back deck. Or we’d randomly go visit my grandparents who would sometimes be sitting outside in lawn chairs. We’d join them, and I’d enjoy it. But as a child I didn’t understand what I understand now. The summer heat’s misery, in those times, would give way to a little slice of heaven and peacefulness.
We’ve entered July, and we’re quickly marching towards summer’s peak. I’ve been guilty of letting work and technology steal some of summer’s magic away from me. I aim to correct that as much as possible. Enjoy summer. Let it bring its relaxing nature to me. I don’t want to look back this fall (as I did last fall) and ask myself where summer went. I don’t want to miss this.
