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Summertime

    It's officially here. Summer. Don't you hate the heat? And the humidity? And the bugs? The weeds in the yard? Oh, but there are some good things, too. Flowers are good, marigolds, lilies, pansies, petunias, gardenias, and roses.

    Daylight sticks around until late in the evening. They tell us that the days start getting shorter after June 21, but it always seems to me, that daylight holds until after July 4. It feels like 9:30 will not be dark enough for fireworks, but within minutes of starting, the sky is black. Then the days start ending shorter. There's a melancholy feeling as the darkness starts creeping up earlier and earlier each day, but without a let up in the heat or humidity.

    Meanwhile, there's outdoor sports, picnics, swimming, glasses of ice cold water or peach tea out on the deck or patio. And beach music. If you can still afford them, there are road trips. Barbecues and baseball. In the good old days, we had badminton and croquet. The kids caught lightening bugs and played hide and seek until your mother came looking for you in the dark. And what kid didn't like homemade ice cream at grandma's?

      Gardening is a summer joy for ones who are able. We've cut back a lot. A neighbor gives us homegrown lettuce. I can't wait for homegrown tomatoes. They are so much better than trucked in hard orangey things or the hot house variety. Squash, zucchini, miscellaneous squashes, green beans, beats, potatoes, canteloupes, watermelons, peppers of every variety, cucumbers. all filled our tables at one time. We never ate better than when the garden was producing. We were never very good at corn, carrots, or cauliflower. We had great sunflowers when the neices were babies, but in the current wooded neighborhood, sunflowers won't grow.

    Now in the summer, I'm not a full participant. I'm covered from head to foot in mosquito repellent when outside. I hate them, but they love me. My fair skin invites them, and I swell up and itch mercilessly for days. The bites send little feelers out over my skin like octopus legs. And I have to stay out of the sun. My skin is blotchy now from youthful exposure; and medicines I take these days make my skin vulnerable to cancer from the sun. To top it off, I can't swim. I've taken lessons from a professional swimmer, and she couldn't get me across the pool.

    We adults go to our jobs and don't enjoy summer quite as much as the kids and the teenagers. We stay in the air-conditioning, and almost forget it's summer. But it's here now. It's the most productive time of the year. Don't let it pass you by. Stop, smell the roses, look for June bugs and lightning bugs. Have a glass of lemonade or a mint julep. Those of us in middle age are in the fullness or the summer of life. Enjoy it. Don't let it pass you by without relishing it for what it is in all its beauty. Lie back on the grass and watch the fireworks.

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