What does summer mean to you?

Well, I suppose I should have been blogging about summer two days ago. I could make the excuse better late than never, but in truth, the last few days have not felt much like the "summer breezes" you associate with summer. Perhaps, spring showers are just getting their due. Nevertheless, it is officially summer so some reflections about summer are due. I am sure it will be here any day now.

“Summertime, when the living is easy.” That line from the musical “Porgy and Bess” by G. Gershwin seems to always resonate in my mind when the warm breezes start blowing the cold weather away in Minnesota. We all love summer. For many of us, it is a time of vacations and connotations of freedom from school and work. However, why does the song say the living is easy? I think it is because summer seems to bring that association to mind despite the fact that it is not now nor probably ever was easy. Nevertheless, we think of the lushness of fresh fruit, vegetables, the farmers market and long days and nights. It does not matter that we may work all summer, the dream is still there of “easy living.”

As we get older, most of us will think back to our childhoods with fond summer memories of doing nothing but kicking rocks, jumping rope, fishing, swimming off of the old bridge, camping with our friends or weekends at the cabin with our family. Perhaps these are more traditional Minnesota memories but no matter where you live, you will have your own memories associated with summer time. All over the world, people are in vacation mode during the summertime. Maybe you will spend your summer traveling to exotic destinations or simply taking a short trip to visit relatives. Summer brings a longing for what we want life to have in store for us as we age. Summer is a time of psychological retirement years before any of us will ever retire.

What are your best summer memories? What did you once do each summer that is now simply a memory? What summer traditions do you still celebrate? What do you hope your future summers will have in store for you? Are you living your dreams now or waiting?