Ah, summer.
Well, a sort of warmish, damp spring in July anyway.
Regardless, the kids are out of school, and the neighbours have shined up the RV and hit the road.
Most of us are still at home, still working.
Maybe we have a week or two off work, maybe we’re planning a staycation.
Or maybe we’re working through the whole summer.
Regardless, find a day or two this summer to just remember how great it can be to live here.
Head down to a park, the beach, or the lake.
Hang up a hammock in the back yard.
Pull up a lawn chair and get out the SPF 40 sun screen.
Throw the Frisbee with the kids, toss a stick in the water for the dog to chase.
Go for a walk, run, or bike ride while the air is still cool and dew is still on the tall grass.
Get yourself a glass with ice that clinks against the sides, sit down somewhere shady, and crack open a book.
Then don’t move. Don’t turn on the TV, don’t check your phone.
Don’t even look at a newspaper (we’ll be here the next day).
Let the distractions of the world happen to someone else.
There’s a lot to be anxious about, even in a prosperous place and time like the one in which we live. Problems from schools to parking, Brexit to Trump can easily dominate our thinking, even through the summer.
Letting all of that news wash over us is both exciting (because we have the rush of new knowledge) and frightening (because we have so little influence over the biggest issues in our world).
For a day, turn off the outside world.
Finish your book, drink whatever is in your glass, tell the kids to put on more sunscreen.
It’s summer. The world will be there tomorrow.
-Black Press
