How is it that the choicest moments in life – the best of
the best – are always and inevitably accompanied by the wail, “It’s going so
fast!”? Kids shooting up, growing out of dance tutus and baseball cleats. Lilacs
blooming sweet and purple, gone in a flash.
Waxing moon turns fat and golden, starts to wane and another month is
gone.
July near over already! Frogs in full song and lightning
bugs hovering over foxtail tips. Lake water beginning finally to warm, sand hot
beneath bare feet. Summer hurrying, hurrying, moving past us almost before we
know it is here.
Impossible to keep it, but there are, I think, ways to slow
the forward motion. Rum works. No, don’t laugh, I am completely serious. Malibu
and Coke, a wedge of lime, plenty of ice – sip slowly. Ah, the drink of
pirates, I can practically see Jack Sparrow dancing on the white sand. Don’t
drink this inside, though – get out beneath the stars - lakeside, back porch, next
to a bonfire. Perfect, you’ve got summer in an eight ounce glass.
Or this – sprawl on
the porch swing with a good book and and read read read while the lovely lemony
sun rays bathe you from head to toe. Read exactly whatever you want to read,
gooey romances or outlandish Victorian vampires or Russian spy novels. Plenty
of time for literary snobbishness this winter. Summer is a time to indulge.
What about an ice cream cone every time the Tastee Freeze
changes their special? If you skip lunch you don’t have to worry about your
swimsuit. (Which you should be living in
– it is summer, after all, why aren’t you swimming?)
Crank the windows on your way home from work and drive
barefooted with your sunglasses perched on your nose. Black Crowes playing on
the radio at a teeth-rattling volume.
Hit the beer gardens,
the county fairs, the farmer’s markets. Take your fishing pole to the canal in
the evening, when the sun is just pinking over the water.
Most of all, take it all in – the lady bugs, the
freshly-mown hay, scent of coconut lotion and cucumbers, taste of watermelon
and sweet tea. Gorgeous, glorious, perfect time of year – we won’t gripe about
the heat until at least August.
~ Comment below and share how you savor summertime. :) ~
*Art by Paul Meijering
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