Summer reminds me of what I loved most about being a child. I couldn’t wait for school to get out, for days filled with bike rides, roller skates, shorts and midriff tops, going barefoot, donning bathing suits, and lathering on Coppertone lotion. I can still smell the Coppertone. Days spent at the beach or at our local swim resort or our neighbor’s Doughboy pool were some of my most favorite times. And nights that included a bike or car ride to our local Baskin-Robbins were the absolute best! I can still taste the jamoca-almond-fudge and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream flavors.
Even nighttime games of kick-the-can, baseball, dodge ball, or hide-and-seek in our court conjure up images of all us neighborhood kids gobbling down our dinners to get back outside to play some more. We couldn’t get enough of being outside. “Please, just five more minutes,” was echoed throughout the neighborhood as we all tried to eek out “just a little longer” from our parents.
The Ageless Magic of Summer
Although the magical moments of my childhood are in the long-ago past, there’s still so much magic to take pleasure in as the grownup I am now, whether it’s having fun outdoors with my grandson or appreciating summer through the lens of adulthood, most especially by connecting with nature.
The warm summer days invite us to open our eyes and notice how everything has come to life and is now in full bloom. Mother Earth reveals her bounty everywhere at this time of year, from lush green grasses, to the abundant fruits and vegetables, to vibrantly colored flowers. Outside our back window, I watch the finches enjoy food each day from our bird feeders while hummingbirds drink the nectar from flowers in our garden.
Even though we hear it all the time—how important it is to live in the present moment—this time of year seems to make it easier to do just that.
There is so much happening in nature—so much we can experience
if we pause long enough to take it in.
Summer days are the perfect time to sit outdoors by a stream and listen to the sound of the moving water, to picnic under a tree and enjoy the rustling of grasses and leaves, or to take a long walk along a tree- or shrub-lined path. I love reclining outdoors on warm summer nights to watch the sunset or take in the night sky.
Although summer will soon be coming to an end, I encourage you to take in its gifts in the coming days—one day at a time. By being present to each day’s offerings, summer can feel endless rather than ending.
If you haven’t yet done so, as we round the corner to the final weeks of summer, why not get outdoors to sit and breathe it in, to soak it in, to engage with it in some way that puts a smile on your face and brings contentment to your heart. Take the time to truly savor your favorite summertime fruits and acknowledge their juicy vitality as they enter your body. Use your senses to experience the sights, smells, sounds, feelings, and taste of this time of year.
Summer can caress you. It can make you feel lighter, more hopeful, and filled with joy. Let yourself bask in that goodness.
When you do, I encourage you to take along your journal and record your impressions and experiences. Write about your summertime memories—the distant past and present-time recollections. You might even write about your dreams for future summers.
Thoughts of Summer
Thoughts of SummerHere are some quotes to take along and inspire your summertime musings:
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned
that within me there lay an invincible summer.” ~Albert Camus
“There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.” ~Celia Thaxter
“The summer night is like a perfection of thought.” ~Wallace Stevens
“In summer, the song sings itself.” ~William Carlos Williams
“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” ~Sam Keen
“A life without love is like a year without summer.” ~Swedish Proverb
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been
the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ~Henry James
“Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer’s year—
it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.” ~Author Unknown
“Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day
listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky,
is hardly a waste of time.” ~John Lubbock
“Each fairy breath of summer, as it blows with loveliness,
inspires the blushing rose.” ~Author Unknown
