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Summertime. Picnics and barbecues. Swimming in ice-cold lakes and watching fireworks explode in multicolored sparkles across the inky night skies. Running through patches of clover and avoiding stepping on bees so that we could make it to the town pool where all our friends were. Rainy days and rolling thunder, the backdrop to reading Stephen King novels, scaring myself witless as I lolled lazily on the couch.
Those long and languid days where I had nary a care in the world are long gone. Work doesn’t stop in the summer, and these days, summer heralds end-of-year graduation parties, school activities to plan for, weeding to be done, household contractors to coordinate, camp supplies to wrangle up, and three-hour trips to the Berkshires to drop our daughter off to summer camp.
It’s not all hectic rushing around though. Our family will still find time to head up to our oasis in the New Hampshire lakes region, and I keep images of boat rides and lake swims in my mind to get me through long days of writing and editing. I’ve written in the past about the pleasures of relaxing in nature and spending time at the lake. I’ll need to find more time to enjoy hikes through the mountains there, since, according to the National Park Service, even 30 minutes in a park “can improve heart health, circulation and lower cholesterol, blood glucose, and blood pressure.” Seems like an excellent and inexpensive way to improve your health and well-being.
But back to the business of summer. I think that the overwhelming amount of activities is tiring on its own, but it’s also the marking of the passage of time that gets to me. My little girl is not so little anymore. As we check off items on a packing checklist, I know that I’ll be missing her for an entire month over the summer. When I was a child and went off on school or summer trips, I gave zero thought to how my parents might feel. Oh, I would feel sad myself, but I didn’t really think about how they would be missing me. And I will miss my little girl dreadfully.
Still, it is good to see her so grown up, full of excitement for a summer of friendships, adventure, and fun. She still amazes me everyday in the way that she finds light and joy in the world around her. While my summers are no longer all my own, they do fill me with happiness in my family and in the world around me.
What are your fun summer activities? Do you make time to breathe in nature around you or to have amazing adventures at home and around the world? Share your summer memories in the comments below.
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