Racing Through Summer at the Speed of Life

Finally, the best part of the year has arrived. You know, the season when you can slow down and just be lazy.

That’s how it’s supposed to work anyhow so enjoy it before you suddenly find yourself shoveling out from a blizzard again. Brrr! The days are already getting shorter.

The problem is, how much can you cram into three short months? Remember how you spent the winter making summer plans? You also probably said to a lot of friends, “Hey, let’s get together next summer.” So, how’s that working for you? Did you notice that when summer arrived every weekend and holiday was already booked starting with graduations, followed by a mix of weddings, holiday events, family reunions and festivals. Other things are on the calendar, too, like kids’ swimming lessons, berry picking, day at the beach, camping. They all add up. Sometimes you just wish for rain.

But if there’s a free weekend of good weather, that’s when you paint the deck. At least it’s at your own house and on your schedule, although high temps and humidity don’t allow for dawdling. And it might rain later anyhow. You have to be ready to plan something quickly if you find some free time. You don’t want to waste it.

When the cold weather does return, you don’t want to conclude that you squandered summer by not getting things done. Those windows are not going to wash themselves. You can slow down in a few months. You’ll know when that is because that’s when the kids actually want school to start. Then you can begin planning next summer’s schedule.

Of course, the best intentions in summer don’t always work. That deck you worked so hard on is just too hot and sunny. And the mosquitoes are large enough to carry you away unless you fully immerse yourself in a shiny coat of chemical agents only slightly less deadly than DDT. Because of these things the neighborhood party you’re hosting ends up in your air conditioned kitchen, where the food and drinks are – the same place the party would be in winter.

But your summer schedule must stay on track. You can’t let a few drawbacks slow you down. Remind yourself that you live in a part of the world where the number of cold days are far too numerous, so you owe it to yourself to take advantage of summer as best you can. You don’t relish the advancement of global warming but you wouldn’t mind just enough of it so spring and fall are actually noticeable and the temp doesn’t get down to -30 in January anymore.

Summer is your reward for surviving a brutally cold, snowy winter. It’s certainly easier to be busy in summer than in winter. You’re automatically more efficient. Think of all the time wasted just getting your boots and coat on.

So, what’s left on your list this summer? Traveling somewhere? Hope you made reservations last winter. Even around here the whole Mississippi River corridor gets busy. Catherine and I found that out when we tried to find lodging in the Marquette/McGregor, Iowa area for a last minute three-day getaway. The more exotic the lodging, the more they’re full up. You want a bed and breakfast? Full. How about a cabin or a historic hotel? Full. We did find a room at an old hotel, but not on the upcoming weekend. You can accept mid-week when you’re retired. What will we do there? We aren’t sure and we don’t care. We just decided to take advantage of the free time. I’ll report on that trip next time.

So, how do you know you had a good summer? You can certainly review your calendar and see all you accomplished. You can look through all those thousands of photos you took to remember what you did. When the first frost feels like it’s 10 below that means you got acclimated to summer. Congratulations, you got your money’s worth.

You get a bonus if you planned your winter calendar over the summer.