I’ve always loved summer for all the obvious reasons: no school, long light evenings, road trips to visit friends and family, lazy afternoons spent at the pool or sprawled across my bed reading. (Of course, some of those pleasures have shifted or disappeared in adulthood.)
Summer in Texas is so long that I’m always aching for cool temps by the time they roll around. So, since moving to the Northeast, I’ve come to appreciate summer in a new way. It’s chilly (or frigid) for so much of the year here that I’m savoring every bit of summer as never before.
A reading lunch at the farmer’s market
I love the way the light moves across the wooden floorboards in our apartment, starting early in the morning and not fading away till nearly 9 p.m. I love the cool breezes that waft (most of the time) through every open window, and the whir of the box fan as we lounge in the living room. I’m grateful for the window a/c unit in our bedroom, newly reinstalled, but while J likes to hole up in there, I prefer to be out in the living room, where it’s warmer but lighter, more open.
This summer has been hot so far – the last few weeks have felt more like Texas than Massachusetts – but apart from a few sweaty subway rides and an aversion to turning on the oven, I don’t care. For as long as it lasts, I am addicted to summer.
I am digging into stacks of summer reading and eating pints of Ben & Jerry’s raspberry Greek frozen yogurt with chocolate chunks. I am buying bags of cherries and pints of blueberries, and walking down to the Copley Square Farmer’s Market at least once a week for raspberries in blue paper pints, sleek golden zucchini and other goodies. We are eating pasta with fresh tomatoes, zucchini quesadillas, homemade pizza with mozzarella and fresh veggies (my one reason to turn on the oven). We are drinking gallons of Simply lemonade (plain and raspberry). I am stopping by Starbucks for the occasional iced chai (and air-conditioning).
I’m wearing every skirt I own, especially the white linen one and the colorful cotton ones, and eyeing my favorite stores for more sundresses. I am reveling in bare legs and red toenails and new freckles and sandals every day. I am loving the Sunday evening cookouts at Ryan and Amy’s, and regular walks on the beach with J. Most of all I love the long, lazy evenings, when I putter or read or do a little writing, stretching my arms and legs and heart into the endless possibility that is summer.
What are your summer addictions?
The sandwich in that first photo looks so delectable, I swear I almost took a bite out of my computer screen.
My summer addiction is watermelon! Can’t get enough.
Oh how I love summer myself! My summer addictions are sampling the popsicle offerings in Central Park, eating outside at restaurants, visiting Quincy Bay
, reading YA fiction (latest addiction: the Gallager Girls series), buying Ranier Cherries until Duncan claims that my over-consumption will make me ill, eating huge chunks of cold watermelon, sipping cold lemonade, taking free yoga classes in Bryant Park, wearing sandals and sundresses everyday, and swing dancing on the plaza at Lincoln Center. Oh how I love summer too! …despite the hot, humid climate.
My CSA shares, green (!) toenails, iced coffee, free music in the park, sitting on my best friend’s front porch swing.
Meals from the garden, skirts, bare legs & sandals, Art in the Park and long, long days filled with sunlight!
Do you like My Berlin Kitchen? Everyone seems to be reading it.
I so enjoyed My Berlin Kitchen. Great descriptions, yummy recipes and a sweet love story.
[...] ice cream and fireworks and vacations certainly did). And I’ve savored every last one of my summer addictions, even when I didn’t talk about them here. The dailiness, blogged or unblogged, is precious [...]