Summer officially arrived Friday, June 20, at 10:42 p.m. and it didn’t waste time proving itself. Days later, it delivered an unprecedented heat wave—and it’s not yet July! However, in light of my recent posts about holding our eyes higher, we will not harp on the high temperatures, the 24/7 hum of air conditioning, or the ensuing electric bills. We will appreciate all that is good about summer.

If you’ve followed my posts for more than a year, you’re aware that summer is my least favorite season, BUT there are still wonderful blessings to be found in its three-month span. These are some things I love about summer:

• Air conditioning. How we enjoy our first home with central air!
• Watermelon, Bing cherries, cantaloupe, strawberries and berries.
• Fresh salads with Jersey tomatoes, crisp cukes, colored peppers, and a variety of local veggies.
• A more leisurely lifestyle, no schedules, relaxed breakfasts.
• Nature’s newness, baby fawns in our yard and hummingbirds at our feeders.
• Walking out the door in tee shirts and flip flops, with no thought of a jacket.
• Barbecues—burgers & dogs, chicken & ribs, corn on the cob.
• Longer days, shining sun and dappled shade, rocking in the hammock.
• The joy of flitting lightning bugs and butterflies.
• Ice cream—refreshment in a cone, on a stick, or in a bowl.
• Sudden showers and rumbles of thunder.
• Iced tea, homemade with the time-perfected amount of sugar and lemon.

What do you love about summer?  

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and winter,
day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22