Is it Summer?

I think everyone has their own idea of what you do in the summer.  Some like to spend as much time in and on the water as possible swimming, boating, waterskiing, or just relaxing on the beach with toes in the sand soaking up the sun. For others, it’s a trip to the mountains to hike, or to camp, or flying off to a faraway place to see amazing sights and experience different cultures.  Then there are those, who like me, think that it isn’t summer unless there are cookouts, iced tea, and other activities close to home.

When I was younger there were cookouts in the summer in my parents’ back yard with my mother’s homemade potato and macaroni salads, burgers and dogs on the grill, iced tea and lemonade, and toasted marshmallows for dessert.  When I grew up my husband and I took picnics to state parks and cooked our burgers on the charcoal grills there.  Once we bought our house we had a gas grill and still had cookouts.  As time went on and our children grew up we spent less and less time outside in the summer, and a few years ago I realized that unless I purposely went outside I was spending all my summer inside in the air conditioning.  But if you’re not sweating, is it even Summer? I push myself to take a book outside on a hot summer day and read in the shade, or go to the park for a walk where the smell of the hot sun on a field covered in white clover with honey bees and butterflies flitting flower to flower brings me back to my childhood when summer was spent outside.

Recently my husband and I attended a cookout at a friend’s house where we were greeted by the sight of colorful chairs arranged in a circle around a fire pit.  It was a small gathering of friends, each one bringing a side dish to share, and hot dogs and hamburgers provided by the hosts.  The sun set as we laughed and ate, and just as a birthday cake was lit for one of our friends, lightning bugs rose out of the grass and bushes creating a light show as we sang the birthday song.  It was a warm evening so we didn’t light the fire, but citronella torches were lit and we lingered there in the growing darkness merrily chatting over coffee.  It was a lovely time and it wasn’t until we were in the car driving home that I realized the mosquitos had been feasting on my legs.  They were so itchy!  Calamine lotion gave a brief respite from the irritation of the large welts the bugs caused.  While it was uncomfortable to have the bites on my legs, I wondered to myself, is it really Summer if you don’t get any mosquito bites?

Summer is such a seemingly short season, even though the days are long and hot, that we try to pack as much into it as we can.  Vacation trips, recreation, and cookouts make the 3 months of summer memorable for many.  Pack in as much outdoors time as you can so that once the cooler weather hits and your chased indoors you don’t ask yourself if it was really ever summer.