10 Things I Love About Summer

I'm late with today's post, but that's one of the things I love about summer: no set time to do most things. Alas, that's probably why I run behind most of the summer. I take my own sweet time to do just about everything!

This post was inspired by the watermelon I was eating today. You see, I absolutely love watermelon. My dad used to raise these monster watermelons that weighed more than I did! I was thinking about all the things you get to do in summer that just aren't doable in winter. So here's my list--in no particular order or preference.

10 Things I LOVE About Summer

1. Watermelon.

Has there ever been a sweeter, juicier fruit? I think not. Watermelon can't be frozen or canned. It can only be enjoyed fresh so I buy one just about every week during the summer. I purchase the weekly melon from trucks parked by the roadside or in the supermarket. They're all good.

2. Dark sweet cherries.

Oh! So delicious but expensive so I don't buy as many as I would if they were the price of, say, apples.

3. Riding in my car with the top down.

I've always loved convertibles. This is the second I've owned. We're talking about selling it but... I really don't want to. No matter how bad my mood, I can get in my car, put the top down, turn the music up loud, and drive away my bad mood.

4. Sleeping late.

I probably don't need to say any more about that one. We live in a sleep-deprived culture so sleeping late is pure joy.

5. Watching all the re-runs of TV shows.
I don't watch much TV in the evening so this is my chance to catch up on what everyone else watched.

6. Sitting on my park bench in my front yard in the late afternoon.
My bench is under this giant live oak. I pour a glass of ice tea (that's what we Southerners call the drink that the rest of the country calls ICED tea or a glass of wine and sit on the bench. This is my chance to visit with my neighbors. Our little gated community has only 100 houses so many people walk in the afternoon.

7. Reading.
I seem to get more reading done. Maybe it's because of all that housework and laundry I'm ignoring. Once upon a time I had a hammock. There was nothing more wonderful than lying in the hammock and reading the afternoon away. I no longer have 2 properly spaced trees so I sit on my bench instead.

8. The smell of hay being cut and baled.
I drove to our country house with the top down last week. They were cutting and baling hay in the fields I drove past. The sun turned the light brown of the hayfield to gold. The smell of the fresh-cut hay wafting on the breeze was incredible.

9. Listening to the laughter of little kids playing.
When I see kids at the park or the pool, it makes me remember when our kids were small. I can't help but smile at the memories and at all the kids loving the same things our kids loved: swings, slides, monkey bars, and  just playing with their little friends.

10. Crape myrtles and all the other blooming trees in the South.
I love anything that blooms, and in the summer there's a bounty of blooms from flowers, shrubs, and trees. Crepes of every color--white, every shade of pink, deep read, and lavender and purple--there's a color for every taste. Then there are magnolias, bottlebrush, vitex, althea, hibiscus, and oleander just to name a few.

Takeaway Truth

What are your favorite things about summer?