The sweetness

7.31.2010

The sweetness of summer. 
What is it?  We all talk about “it” – that “thing” that makes summer the sweetest season, but what is it really?  Can you put your finger on it?  As kids it was the break from our main responsibility: school.  It was a time to catch fireflies and stay up late and eat ice cream everyday and have sleepovers.  It was a time to abandon all cares and footwear and for at least two solid months.  Now, as adults, we can’t really “check out” the way we did as kids; we have to work (well, some of you) and therefore wear shoes everyday, and I doubt most of us eat ice cream on the daily, and staying up late is no longer a special treat.  But despite these concessions we make on our path to adulthood, summer remains the sweetest season, and today, on the eve of August, I’m trying to pin-point what does it for me; what makes summer feel so damn good and special?

Right off the bat I’m going to say the beach, Long Beach Island (LBI) specifically.  I’ve been spending summers at this place for as long as I can remember, and for me, summer is synonymous with trips to LBI.  Walking up to the beach entrance through the dunes and seeing the ocean for the first time (that day, week, season, whatever) remains of my favorite summer sights to behold.  It just never gets old.  And then there’s the relaxation of having your toes in the sand, and the playfulness of swimming in the ocean, and the late-afternoon peacefulness that remains after the lifeguards and families have gone home.  So yeah, days spent on LBI are definitely one of the “things” that makes summer so damn sweet.

I think summer heat can be really challenging, especially the heat we’ve experienced this summer (hottest July ever).  But, I’ve gotta say, warm summer nights somehow make it worth it.  Everything just feels better on a warm summer night; dinner tastes better when cooked or enjoyed outside, driving with windows down and music up hits the spot like nothing else on a warm summer night, and hanging out with friends on a porch or in a yard, surrounded by the rhythmic sounds of summer cicadas, is total bliss. 
 
So I think for me, these two “things” are what makes summer the sweetest season.  Also, this summer is particularly sweet because I’m in between student mode and job mode, and therefore summer still feels like a break from my main responsibility because I don’t have school OR a job.  This also means that I’ve been barefoot most of the summer and staying up ridiculously late, because I can ;)  Soon enough September will be here and the slow dissolve from summer to autumn will begin, and I’ll get a job and put my shoes back on, but until then, I’m going to savor every last drop of summer, sand, sunflowers and cicadas, because ultimately what makes it all so sweet is that it’s time limited and temporary.  Just like an ice cream cone.
 
 

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