.png)
Once again, I find myself in the middle of August wondering where the summer has disappeared to. Wasn’t it just the solstice with her promise of lingering sunlight or the 4th of July ripe with the expectation of long evenings sitting outside? Instead, I once again, find myself lost in the heat and unaware of how pumpkin spice promises and iced apple chai season lurks just over the horizon.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a nice fall season full of cooler mornings, cozy sweaters and flannels, and the anticipation of the “witchy” season coming soon to an October near me…but not at the expense of missing the whole point of summer to begin with. The childlike presence that bubbles up from inside us and demands we take a load off and relax a little more while we do more fun things that we wouldn’t dare think about venturing out to do in the chilly months of hibernation.
For one, I haven’t even visited the beach once this season. The rejuvenating waves, the sand beneath my toes, and the sea air that brings with it the resuscitating ability to find yourself after being lost in the mundane. I don’t know why this has escaped me this far into the season. I simply have been too “busy” with regular life. In my youth, I would have been by the ocean at least once or twice a week for an evening stroll with a friend or a cup of coffee after dark to contemplate the day, dreams, and desires.
I also have not visited a theme park in a very long while. To many this may seem silly, but as a previous pass holder and a lover of the feeling of flying I am embarrassed to admit that I have not felt the rush of wind in my hair or the sticky sweetness of a well deserved funnel cake shared with a companion that has walked a weeks worth of steps with you while waiting in line for the next adrenaline rush to sweep over and remind you that you are alive and that life is fun.
Now I won’t tell you that I haven’t had the chance to enjoy the swings, a late night fire, or a soft serve twist at all this year…just that it doesn’t occur nearly as often as it should have. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have witnessed fireflies dancing around at dusk or seen the moon shimmer in the night sky and today that makes me more than a little sad.
I pride myself on my love of summer, it is after all “my time of year”. The season of my birth, complete with an inner child that loved nothing more than summer break and weeks spent swimming in the backyard. The young adult concert goer that loved a good summer festival. The ex-teacher that lived for the carefree months that would act like glue holding her together for the remainder of the year. And the joyful wife who met, began dating, moved in with, and married her husband in the height of many a summer’s warmth.
So what happened this year you ask??? I. Have. No. Idea.
Perhaps it was just getting caught up in the minutia of day to day life. Maybe it’s all the appointments I habitually still book in the summer. I could even blame it on the heat or mosquitos, but I never used to let those things stop me from dining outdoors several times a day. I have no good explanation for why this summer season is escaping me faster than I can dart after it. I just know this as I sit here today, it needs to stop.
I can’t imagine jumping into the cooler and darker parts of the year without having let my inner kid go outside and forget about the real world for a little while longer. If that means putting off some chores or other “grown-up” duties, I’m just going to have to remind myself that they will still be there when I’m done running through sprinklers, taking an impromptu camping trip (even if that means setting up the yurt in the backyard), and watching the meteor showers while eating a popsicle.
I’m going to have to “work” to try and fit in as much summer as I can in these last couple of weeks so I can squeeze out every drop of childlike awe and wonder it has left to offer. I ask you to try and do the same…not for me, but for your own inner child that raced off the school bus on that last day every June. Go fill the rest of August with whatever joy you used to fit into those long hot days of youth while maybe sipping on a nice refreshing glass of lemonade. Then, I promise, you can enjoy that pumpkin spice latte soon enough knowing it was earned.