Well, summer kind of snuck up on me this year. I mean, here in Dallas we basically bypassed winter altogether and skipped to spring, except for one or two extra-chilly nights in there, so I guess in a way it's been summer since April. It's been 90 degrees since April, but all you Texans know that's practically a balmy spring day in these parts.
I think probably summer caught me off guard because I am a crazy person these days, with no idea where I'm going or what's going on or what ten million things I'm forgetting to do at any given point. I thought this would improve after the move, but it turns out that once you move, all your stuff stays in ugly boxes on the floor until you take the time to unpack them and hang your photos and rearrange all your furniture and whatnot. And if you go out of town four days after moving, it's unlikely that those things will get done. And then all of a sudden we're nearing the three-month mark till the wedding (which: what?) and there's fifty decisions I never even considered making, and I missed a week of work so I have approximately three million e-mails to catch up on, and yesterday my fridge was basically empty except for a tiny hunk of cheese, some wilted parsley, a lemon, and an assortment of sauces and vinegars and some tortillas. Not an inspiring selection - ergo a trip to the grocery store.
All this to say - somehow it became summer, and I was unprepared.
I forgot that it sucks to run outside when it's 95 degrees and that hydration is important, and I forgot that we've moved on from spring produce and it's now, like, stone fruit and summer squash season. What I didn't forget is that summer, season of childhood memories and fun and water and sunshine and popsicles, loses a lot of its luster when you're a twenty-something with no kids, no money, and taking more than two days off work in a row is "frowned upon" at the office. You know what's fun about summer? No school. But if you're not in school, then summer mostly consists of... work. And work, when it's ten bajillion degrees outside, just sounds exhausting, doesn't it? Summer becomes much less about camp and vacation and pool days and sunscreen and waterskiing and cookouts, and much more about sitting in an office, going home while it's still hot, you don't want to move because it's so disgusting outside, your apartment is like a sauna but your air conditioning bill is already a thousand dollars, etc.
I don't want to hate summer.
This summer, I'm going to try to make the most of it. Even though I sit in an office all day. Summer gets me all excited in a certain way, when I think about jumping into the lake from the dock, eating snow cones on a hot afternoon, being outdoors, even sweating with that good burning air in my lungs while I'm attempting to exercise. There's just a magical quality about summer, and I want it to apply to my life now, not just the life I wish I had where I get to spend my days however and wherever I want. I probably need to start with getting organized and getting all the less-fun stuff out of the way (like unpacking my boxes). And then I can start. The fall is for change, and new things, and fresh crisp air. But summer is for long, slow days, ice cubes that melt into your drink, food that you don't have to bake, the slow dying of campfires and the drowsy feeling you get from too much sun. While I have it, I plan to relish that feeling.
Who's in?
I think probably summer caught me off guard because I am a crazy person these days, with no idea where I'm going or what's going on or what ten million things I'm forgetting to do at any given point. I thought this would improve after the move, but it turns out that once you move, all your stuff stays in ugly boxes on the floor until you take the time to unpack them and hang your photos and rearrange all your furniture and whatnot. And if you go out of town four days after moving, it's unlikely that those things will get done. And then all of a sudden we're nearing the three-month mark till the wedding (which: what?) and there's fifty decisions I never even considered making, and I missed a week of work so I have approximately three million e-mails to catch up on, and yesterday my fridge was basically empty except for a tiny hunk of cheese, some wilted parsley, a lemon, and an assortment of sauces and vinegars and some tortillas. Not an inspiring selection - ergo a trip to the grocery store.
All this to say - somehow it became summer, and I was unprepared.
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| Photo is from here. |
I don't want to hate summer.
This summer, I'm going to try to make the most of it. Even though I sit in an office all day. Summer gets me all excited in a certain way, when I think about jumping into the lake from the dock, eating snow cones on a hot afternoon, being outdoors, even sweating with that good burning air in my lungs while I'm attempting to exercise. There's just a magical quality about summer, and I want it to apply to my life now, not just the life I wish I had where I get to spend my days however and wherever I want. I probably need to start with getting organized and getting all the less-fun stuff out of the way (like unpacking my boxes). And then I can start. The fall is for change, and new things, and fresh crisp air. But summer is for long, slow days, ice cubes that melt into your drink, food that you don't have to bake, the slow dying of campfires and the drowsy feeling you get from too much sun. While I have it, I plan to relish that feeling.
Who's in?
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