Savouring Summer

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world." ~Ada Louise Huxtable

I love summer. I love the feel of the sun on my skin. I love the smell of the flowers and trees. I love the taste of the fruit.

There is something about summer. It is as if the world turns down the volume, just a little. Even in the busiest and most high pressure times, it just seems easier to get through it in summer. Have to race for a business meeting - no need to clean the ice and snow from the car before you go. Have to cram a dozen errands into an hour - grab your purse and walk out the door - no coat, no boots, no hassle.

I've been listening to store clerks and friends grumble the past few weeks that we haven't really had warm weather this summer. It has yet to hit thirty degrees. Okay, I like the hot weather too but, so what. May I remind everyone that though, we've had quite a bit of rain, we don't have to shovel it. It is unseasonable to have temperatures of twenty-one or twenty-two degrees, but no winter coat is required. For that matter, no air conditioning is required either. It is perfect sleeping weather.

The fruit seems particularly wonderful this year - juicy black plums, the sweetest berries, the crispest rhubarb. And there is nothing quite like a burger from the barbeque, a delicious tomato salad or a fresh ear of corn. A lot to be said, too, for a frozen margarita on the back deck.

I love summer. The memory of the sun on my back can carries me through many a frigid winter morning.