Category: Summer

Summer is a reoccurring theme in all of my writing. I am a warm weather weather guy. If I wrote something about winter, it probably wouldn’t be very nice.

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Good Ole Summertime

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I’m a t-shirt, shorts, flip flop, beach sort of guy who likes it toasty outside and air-conditioned inside. This summer has miraculously come through. That’s downright rare to have consistently warm weather here in the upper Midwest on the shores of Lake Michigan. What a wonderful gift in the midst of the current Covid calamity! Today we ventured out to find The Garden of Eatin’ at The Coffee Pot hoppin’ and the beaches packed. 

Covid lessons? 

It doesn’t cost anything to get off your butt and go outside to walk, hike, bike, kayak, or garden. It is not harmful to sweat. I think it is actually beneficial. (Stay hydrated.)

It’s refreshing to take a break from the virtual world and immerse yourself in the real world.

There are things to see, smell, hear, and experience that are real, beautiful, and wonderous.

So, maybe we had to be forced outside into the real world. We are used to climate-controlled, razzle-dazzle entertainment that you pay for, when the real thing is free and easy. 

Just get up and walk out the door!

Slow down. 

Focus on the detail.

Soak up the moment.

Say “thank you” for the blessings.

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Summer’s Song

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summerThe cicadas have been singing their song. Somehow it reminds me of the summers of my youth. Everyday it gets to the eighties or nineties. That’s very unusual here in the upper Midwest near the shores of Lake Michigan, but it has been normal this year.

When the inhabitants of this cool, damp climate complain of humidity, I usually laugh. I grew up in Missouri where the summer air is dense. People here are humidity babies. Yet, when you get hit with high humidity several days in a row and it stays humid at night, the tomatoes grow, but humans feel oppressed.

I thought sure I would have plenty of cool, rainy, and inconsistent weather to complain about when we got back from Florida on Memorial Day, but instead I was welcomed back by an authentic summertime climate, and it has stayed.

I like the predictable warmth, but it has been so oddly pervasive this year that I have almost grown tired of it. That’s the way you are supposed to feel in mid August. By September, I feel like I need to refocus and get serious about accomplishing something. That’s the way you are supposed to feel in September.

Yet, I still love summer with the fervency of a child who is set free from the structure of school days.

The beauty of summer is…

  • Most everyday is suitable for outdoor activities.
  • Air conditioning is a delightful oasis.
  • A cold beer or glass of ice tea tastes even better.

You can…

  • work hard, get dirty, sweat, take a shower, and then drink a beer. You know that you have accomplished something.
  • watch grass, flowers, and vegetables grow before your very eyes.
  • go to the beach and be in another world.
  • eat meals on the patio.
  • go to outdoor concerts and festivals.
  • walk, run, and bike through the neighborhood or wooded trails.
  • wash your own car, barefooted.
  • talk to your neighbors because you are both outside.

There is something about summer that both gets us excited about activities and causes us to slow down and enjoy the people and the beauty around us. Enjoy its waning days.

 

Photo Credit: Don Hankins. Creative Commons.

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The Summer We Thought Would Never Come

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IMG_2696 (1)Where I live in the upper Midwest/Great Lakes region, we are experiencing a summer we thought would never come. It was a full month late, with the dependably warm weather not kicking in until July. It’s so funny because July and August are crammed full of fairs and outdoor festivals, because that is the only halfway reliable nice weather. Now the beaches of frigid Lake Michigan are packed every sunny afternoon.

This area is occupied by humidity babies, who whine and complain at rare hint of a humid afternoon. They hardly even know what humidity is because it happens here so rarely. But, they complain anyway.

In a few weeks the talk among the neighbor men who meet impromptu at the mail boxes has gone from, “This has been a weird summer!” to “Man, it is just so humid! I had to turn on the air conditioner yesterday!” I wanted to scream, “Of course you had to turn on the air conditioner! It’s August!” (In full disclosure the talk is usually about our wives, how high taxes are, and construction issues.) I get a little tired of it. I’m not a very good old codger.

That’s what happens when you are from Missouri and your favorite get-a-way in a little known barrier island on the gulf coast of Florida.

I love summer because I am an outdoor sort of guy who feels frustrated enough without being confined for months on end like I an under house arrest.

The other thing about summer is it reminds me of my youth. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents in the summer. I ran amuck in their tiny midwestern town, riding my bike with my friends to the ballpark, the river, or the hardware store where we looked at fishing gear and fireworks. I loved talking with my grandpa in the evening shade of their old two-story house, and I really loved going fishing with him!

Now, the dog days are upon us. It has been warm long enough that a mild day is refreshing. I can begin to think someday, I might wear something other than a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops, though I would prefer to dress that way year round.

The yard and the perennials have already experienced their glorious peak and are looking tired and dry. The beginning of school is only a week or two away.

I sincerely wish summer was much longer. I like fall okay, but I seriously hate winter. It’s confining, uncomfortable, inconvenient, and painfully long. 

We can’t do the snowbird thing yet. So, we have to grind it out, while my neighbors and friends are away in the land of sand and sunshine.

But this time of the year is something special. I remember these feelings so well. Summer has a little more life left. We are lamenting its end, yet we are a little tired of it too. The seasons give us a certain variety and rhythm. We can’t change it (unless we can move) so we may as well embrace it.

I am going to enjoy these dog days of summer.

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The Dog Days of Summer

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sun
It’s humid, sticky, sultry. It’s summer, the end of summer.

For kids, the freedom of June has turned to into the boredom of August. They have resigned themselves to heading back to school.

Parents are shelling out money hand-over-fist for clothes, school supplies, and hefty fees for every program imaginable.

It’s how we say goodbye to summer. It’s time to get back to regularly scheduled life.

Summer. I can’t get over summer. I am an old guy, but I feel like a kid in the summer.

It has been a good one.

A couple of weeks hidden away on an obscure sliver of a barrier island on a Florida gulf coast beach will spoil you. Days of no shirt, no shoes, meals on the patio by the ocean, and gorgeous sunsets with a glass of wine in hand, are perfection for me.

Enjoying a fortieth anniversary spurge with an amazing apartment on the beach was a great idea. (Thank you, Patty.)

Honestly, the summer here by the big drink of water, called Lake Michigan has been unusually cool and fluky. But the big lake makes a fun pretend ocean with its bike paths, beaches, and restaurants. If you are a hardy soul, you can even get into the water during the dog days (but it will still be pretty darn cold.)

From summers past and present, I love…

  • Walking along the shore splashing in the water like a kid looking for mud puddles.
  • Finding interesting shells or rocks.
  • Working really hard on an outdoor project, getting really dirty, being bone tired, but feeling very alive. Stump-pulling and landscaping the yard did that for me this year.
  • Drinking a really cold beer when it is all over.
  • Absorbing the warmth of the sun.
  • The good workout of a bike ride.
  • Going to the beach with my grandson, playing with high-powered water guns, and watching him have a heck of a good time with just water, sun, sand, and grandpa.
  • Exploring the small town where my grandparents lived via bicycle.
  • Baseball games, the playground just beyond the outfield, and the popcorn from the concession stand.
  • Our annual Brewers game at Miller Park with good friends.
  • Free outdoor concerts. They are everywhere around here. Many along the big lake. Jazz, Rock, Blues.
  • Getting really close to the stage to watch a great bluesman. I can’t not smile at that point.
  • Cooking anything on the grill.
  • Wiener roasts!
  • Fresh tomatoes and corn on-the-cob.
  • Any kind of carny food (county fair, state fair, festival, whatever). Deep fry it. Charbroil it. Smoke it. Put it on a stick. 
  • Backyard fire pit.
  • Fishing for anything, anywhere with my grandpa.
  • Sitting with my grandpa, in an old springy metal lawn chair, under the evening shade, with the cicadas rhythmically chirping. 
  • When it is all over, air-conditioning.

Care to add to the list?

 

Photo credit: Keven Law . Creative Commons.

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Party Hardy

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fish dayWe have recently been to a couple of huge area festivals that attract thousands, the Strawberry Festival in Cedarburg, Wisconsin and Fish Day in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

The Strawberry Festival in a massive array of all kinds of vendors taking up several blocks of charming, historical downtown Cedarburg. There is music everywhere from stages to street musicians. You will also find very unique vendors, produce, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry wine, all manner of inventions and unusual handcrafted items, and, of course, all kinds of food. The quaint, historical village contains a river, a dam, a historical woolen mill turned into shops. Its a place of character and beauty. This year, our amazingly full of life two-year-old great-granddaughter was with us. I call her our loud and wild child. She is a delight. We danced by the river as we listened to the music.

About a week ago we returned to Cedarburg to walk Main Street and check out the shops with our daughter and grandson who were visiting. Cedarburg is fun whether there is a festival or not. We stayed for the concert in the park, one of our favorite things to do. It is a free, full length concert with a great line up of bands in a park surrounded by a beautiful little river, complete with rapids. There is always a gob of food vendors and a lot of people.

Some attendees set up elaborate little picnics served on their Ravinia tables. The children have a huge playground to explore and climb on. Teenagers roam in mini tribes, looking for girls (or boys) to impress. It’s kind of moving seeing everybody in the family having such a good time. It’s a fun, safe party.

Last week The Alex Wilson Band was playing. Alex is a guitar phenom that always gets a crowd of blues lovers and dancers up near the stage. He rocks it out and gives 110 percent. I can’t believe what this dude can do with a guitar.

After dark the family event comes even more alive as people have had more to drink and start coming up to the stage. I am always one of them because I love to watch him play and I like feeling the energy of the music. (I have the tinnitus in my right ear to prove it.) It’s is great party. Nobody is drunk and obnoxious. Everybody is having fun!

Saturday, we were at Fish Day, the world’s largest one day outdoor fish fry. Fish Day is a huge fundraiser for local charities in Port Washington. Five stages of music, a car show, a craft show, a carnival, lots of fish and chips and beer, and people galore, all on the very edge of Lake Michigan and in a park on the bluff overlooking the big lake.

We were there at the craft fair selling Beadmomma (my wife’s company) jewelry, though I excused myself for long periods of time to hear a couple of bands, The Steelheads and Reverend Raven and the Chain Smoking Altar Boys. Both absolutely killed it.

We met great people at the craft fair and I had some fun conversations with folks over at the car show. Some people started drinking a little early so by the time the main evening attraction, U2 Zoo (anther fabulous local band) performed at the main stage, it might have gotten a little rowdy. Since our day began with leaving home before 6:00 in the morning, we didn’t hang around when the craft show was over.

I love parties. I don’t necessarily associate drinking with partying. I don’t believe you have to get drunk to have fun.

Parties are healing. You can be relaxed, see new stuff, hear new sounds, and watch some very interesting people. You can get a little crazy. It’s like a mini vacation.

Jesus went to parties. There were some very colorful, interesting, even notorious people there. Some might have gotten a little out of hand. The religious big shots gave him a hard time about it and their beliefs forbade attending such events, yet it didn’t stop him.

A way of living based on the life of a sacrificially loving, fully engaged, rule-breaking person who was a thorn in the side of “righteous” and a friend of sinners is pretty darn compelling.

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Summer

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I am a dislocated warm weather guy. So, I usually have a lot to complain about with the fluky, upper Midwest, Great Lakes-influenced weather where I live. Just one “problem”, it has been a lovely spring, which is unheard of around here.

In our area, there are scads of free outdoor concert series. Each town has a weekly, concert in the park and Kenosha, Wisconsin has a least five regular summer outdoor concert series, which we enjoy attending as often as we can.

The Kenosha Pops Concert Band performs weekly at the Sesquicentennial Band Shell in Pennoyer Park right on the shore of Lake Michigan. It is an amazing setting with blue hairs digging the tunes of yesteryear, children playing just down the terrace, kids on the beach, and people bicycling and jogging by, who often stop to take in a little of the music. There is cheap soda and popcorn at the refreshment stand and lots of room if you want to walk around. It is great place to visit with friends or read a book. Essentially, it is Americana Summertime…. free, family oriented, fun that has been going on for over eighty years.

Last Wednesday, the band played, “Smoke Gets in My Eyes” and a 60-something-year-old-man got up out of his lawn chair, extended a hand to his wife and they started dancing on the grass… and I almost started crying. It was a touching moment.

This will sound weird, but I sort of like humidity. Maybe, it is because it doesn’t really happen around here much. Maybe, it is because where I grew up we had a lot of it. Maybe, it is because I don’t live with it on a daily basis.

I love heading south and getting out of the car and feeling a strange, new density in the air. Old river towns seem to be humid, like Hannibal and St. Joseph, Missouri, where I grew up. Okay, it can get oppressive. We once visited Lafayette, Louisiana in August. There you need gills to breathe. Savannah, Georgia is almost as bad. There is a reason that the city has all of those beautiful squares with statues, huge live oaks, fountains, and benches… you need to sit down and cool off a while. But the place is loaded with character and humidity is part of that character.

Things are growing like crazy around here. I picked some blackberries yesterday and soon we will have tomatoes and jalapeños, which is way earlier than common.  I am even enjoying my grass which is having a comeback year.

It is a good thing to get away from the computer, walk outside and enjoy the lawn, the produce, music, and even, the humidity.

Originally posted June 25, 2010.