Lazy days of summer
Why do I love summer so much…crave it…anticipate it…mourn it when it’s over? I think it’s two-fold. There’s the obvious lures of summertime living – the sun, salt, beach, ocean waves, lazy days by the pool, cook-outs, fresh fruit and veggies, bonfires, boating, iced coffee, outdoor concerts, s’mores, vacations, and wide open days that stretch before you. I love wearing sundresses and flip-flops, going barefoot in the soft green grass, picnics, longer days, listening to Van Morrison, eating outside, cold Rosé, and brilliant sunsets… I could go on and on.
And then there’s the nostalgia of summer that gets me every year… those cherished sweet days of childhood summers long ago…wisps of memories, feelings, impressions, smells, sounds that take me back…bits of striking recollections amidst a blur of times gone past. Maybe the way the sea breeze blows the wispy white curtains, the slam of a porch door, the waft of salt air, the crunch and sweetness of farmer’s market corn, the smell of Coppertone, the feeling of warm sand between your toes, the taste of your favorite childhood summer drink (a rootbeer float for me!), the scent of freshly cut grass, the melodic sound of sailboat halyards slapping in the breeze, the whir of a fan softly osculating around my room, or the stillness of early morning on a lake. Who doesn’t want to get an indulgent glimpse back there…to those days of little real responsibility, simple times, easy happy living, joys of being just a kid. The things that made our childhood days magic were almost always so simple – things we wouldn’t think twice about today. Those are the memories I hold onto close and dear to my heart that come flooding back every summer….
that feeling of elation and freedom on the last day of school, riding bikes at dusk, climbing trees, hours spent in the pool, sails at sunset with my dad, planting a vegetable garden with my mom, shucking corn on the back porch, hearing the ice cream truck heading down the street, playing cards and board games, picking fresh berries, collecting shells at the shore, the waterlogged feeling in your chest after a long day spent frolicking in the ocean, spitting watermelon seeds across the lawn, the feel of the backyard sprinkler tickling my feet as I ran through it, catching fireflies, outdoor showers, playing with friends outside after dinner while hearing the clinking of dinner dishes being washed inside, a bucket of KFC at the beach or pool when it was too hot to cook, the town fair, playing capture the flag and flashlight tag, sparklers, family gatherings, the soft calming feel of my mom gently rubbing baby powder on my sunburn back before bed…
These are all just little snapshots of my childhood summers that remain as fresh in my memory as if they just occurred. I know you can close your eyes and think of your own nostalgic summer memories of days that weren’t jammed full of work, endless responsibilities of parenthood and adulthood that thrust us into the world of being “grown-ups” and all that it entails – the good and the bad. The reality is that things change, we change and we can never really feel that carefree again as we did as children of summer! We can only try to re-create, recapture or reminisce.
One of my favorite things as a mom is watching that carefree joy and innocence in my kids as they collect their own memories and experiences of that magic season we call summer. So now I plan the trips, make the meals, pay the bills, build the gardens, apply the sunscreen, cut up the watermelon, pack the beach bags and coolers, do the dishes, arrange the activities, rub the baby powder on sun-kissed backs…and enjoy every moment.