Summer Hours

Summer is coming. At least, I think it is. Every time it seems like summer is really coming it darts away, leaving cold and rain in its wake while it hides someplace and giggles at all of us for cursing and stomping through cold puddles int he open-toed shoes we insist on wearing because it’s time for summer to show up already. Dammit.

But summer will come, eventually, with long evenings and lighting bugs and popsicles. And I want to enjoy it all. I want to tend the garden that begs to be weeded and finish the projects inside the house that I put on hold while it was cold out. I want to lay carpet tiles in the playroom and redo the guest room. We joined the pool club nearby and I want to take C there after dinner on nights when my husband will have to work late at his new job. I want to do better about meeting people in my neighborhood by taking walks and going to the park. A bunch of my favorite authors have new books coming out soon and I want to read them on my deck with a glass of wine after C goes to bed.

Then there are things I need to do like helping plan for an office move at work and writing proposals for some new projects I want to try. I need to look at our family’s finances and figure out how to secure our future. I might need to shop for a new car even though the idea of breaking up with the Honda Civic that I’ve had since I was 25 breaks my heart. I drove that car across country. Twice. But the sunroof leaks and the a/c fans don’t sound so healthy anymore. So yeah, I need to do that research. And there are a few ideas for non-blog writing projects that have been brewing in my mind and I need to work on them before I lose the inspiration from disuse.

Summer is coming and I want to do a lot of things and that means I need to spend fewer hours in front of the computer. I need to live in the world instead of reading about it and talking about what I’ve read. I need a life in three dimensions and that means less of a life in the virtual realm.

I’m not shutting the doors on my blog but I am giving myself permission to skip posting for days or even weeks so that I can frolic with the lightning bugs this summer. And I invite you to frolic, too, with the lighting bugs in your own yard. We can stay in touch this summer, talk about books and vacations and swimming lessons as we pass each other on walks. Then in the fall we can settle back down and get serious again. But for now, I want a popsicle. And I bet you do too.