Summertime, for real

“And it was summer — warm, beautiful summer.”
— Hans Christian Andersen

I love this season.  And it’s so nice that the official beginning of summer has coincided with a lovely heat wave here in the Bay Area.  If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know all about how last summer was the coldest one in forty years: a windy and foggy, flannel-pajama-wearing, “this-is-not-why-people-live-in-earthquake-country” kind of summer.  It totally stank, and I am hoping this summer will be warmer, not least because I don’t want you to have to endure two months of bloggy bellyaching about the weather.

So far, though, so good.  It was 84 degrees in my house last night, and while that isn’t exactly enjoyable, it does mean that the out-of-doors temperature was just about perfect.  I love it when you can sit out on a summer evening in shirt sleeves and be comfortable.

What else do I love about summertime?  Well, here’s a partial list:

* The boys playing in the wading pool.  They tromp and stomp in the water as if they are crushing grapes.  Matthew loves to reel in plastic fish for dinner — or, as Luke would say, “Shish.”

*Roses.  Okay, these beauties aren’t mine; they are from a local park.  But they still make me giddy with delight.

* Popsicles.  And smores.  And summer fruit.  And iced tea.

* That feeling of waking up in the morning in a nice cool bedroom, the fan turning lazily above you and the sunlight already lighting up the sky  outside your window: lovely.

* Summer reading.  Yum.

* The lawn furniture we bought last summer.  It’s like having a couch in the backyard.

But enough about me!  What do YOU love about summer?