summer in michigan – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

Wow, how is it June already? It seems like the year is flying by!

June is the month of the Strawberry Moon, and I am so excited to begin this month! This month I think we want to really soak up the month, as I am not sure where April and May went to so fast!

Summer begins in June, and it always brings to mind that freedom and joy felt when you are a child, and the whole summer is stretched out before you like a blank canvas. Mornings of sleeping in, lazy days reading under a tree, chasing fireflies and playing tag, trips to the cool library on those really hot days, visits to the zoo and beaches and walks through shady woods. Peeking under rocks for bugs and just laying back in the grass, staring up at the clouds. Playing with friends and cousins and backyard cookouts and pool play dates. Summertime feels like freedom, and we lose that feeling so much as an adult, with all of our responsibilities of work, whether it is a work out of the home job or stay at home. But if there is one thing I have learned in the past few months, it is that time is short. We all only have so many summers and while we do have to take care of lives, and can’t live with the utter carefreeness of a child all of the time, we can incorporate some of that spirit into our everyday. Stop and take half an hour or an hour on a busy day to just be. To enjoy and savor your life. Make days just for playtime and family and fun days out. Try and make the most of these days. The other day my husband came home from work and although it was dinner time and we had lots of things we could have and should have been doing, instead we hopped in the car, stopped at a bakery for pizza rolls, and headed off to the marsh for a sunset. A spur of the moment dinner picnic. It was good for the soul.

This summer, we are planning on many trips to the library, little morning hikes, and lots of evening front porch sitting. We are enjoying gardening and the farmer’s markets that are popping up, and we are looking forward to many backyard bbqs and fires, chilled white wine, iced lavendar coffee, and of course, lots and lots of ice cream! Mint chocolate chip for Wyatt and Billy, chocolate for me. Wyatt also started adaptive swimming lessons which are fun, he loves being in the water. He also really loves to splash! I think the two of us are going to the zoo, and to a few farms around here together, and we are planning on going strawberry picking with my brother and his family, including Wyatt’s cousin L. But we are also seeking out just those quiet moments too, sitting in the grass on a blanket surrounded by books and cookies and lemonade. Iced tea parties and poetry. Lounging about in our pajamas on a lazy morning, eating pancakes and listening to music. (My son loves Down by the Bay and will sing along, quite loudly…) Dancing around the house to Prince and Van Morrison and Tom Petty and Eric Church. Spontaneous trips for ice cream for dinner.

We had our first outdoor evening, soaking up the beautiful weather, warm and breezy, at my brother’s house the other night and it was perfect. Birds singing their evening song, burger and hot dogs, chips, cold beers, and bubbles for the kids to play with. I am looking forward to many more this summer!

What do you love about summer? Do you have any favorite memories from when you were a kid?

Summertime and the living is easy, especially when you are a kid. All that carefree abandon, the long days of no responsibility, full of good times and sunshine. Riding bikes, playing tag as the sun sets, staying up late. Sticky popsicles that run down your hand and arm, lunches that get slightly soggy when eaten after swimming, still in your swimsuit, hair dripping. Running barefoot in the grass, laying out a blanket to read, Capri Sun next to you, because summer to a bookworm also means more time to read. I spent many summers getting to know the Ingalls family, a particular favorite of mine. Reading about Ferdinand the bull, the Poky Little Puppy, Curious George, James Herriot and his Yorkshire Dales and cows and dogs, The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, Christopher Pike, my first intro to horror fiction. The list goes on and on.

I remember my mom signing me up every year for the summer reading program. I wasn’t the most athletic kid, and I was quiet and shy, and remember thinking, “Finally, a competition I might be able to win!” I did win, many times actually, as a kid, and even as an adult. I loved (still do) the library in the summer. An oasis of peace, calm, and cold temperatures, to a kid whose family did not have central air. My legs would be freezing, but I didn’t care, as I browsed books like it was my job. Story time was fun too, when I was younger. The Children’s Librarian of my youth became the Library Director and then finally retired, in the years I have been going to my library. A whole career that I was witness to.

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And the tradition continues. On Monday, my sister-in-law Chrissy and I took our kids to the library and signed them up together for summer reading. I don’t remember themes being a thing when I was younger, but our theme for this year is STEAM, which is pretty cool. For Wyatt and L.’s age group, 0-3, we follow the path of a game board, and of course read to the kids. The game board gives us direction – for instance, our first square tells us to read a science book. Chrissy and I scoured the shelves looking for one that would interest us as well as the kids. I ended up choosing a Dr. Seuss animal book, because that counts right? I didn’t end up reading that one to Wyatt though, anyway. Instead I read him a fantastic book from our own collection, called You Are Stardust. I love love love it. I of course signed up for the adult program too, and this year they had a version for “busy moms”, even though I feel like all moms are busy? Also board game format, it is more focused on reading with your family, and doing family activities, rather than reading books just for you on your own. I guess it does make sense really. I chose that one this time. And just like when I was a kid, my fingers are crossed that I win something!

And just because I am no longer that same young and carefree little kid, wearing terry cloth rompers, reading the day away, playing with my cousins, I can still eat popsicles sitting on the front porch, and run around barefoot. And of course, I still do. I’ve also been known to flag down the ice cream man just for a bomb pop.

What about you? What were your summers like?