sweet and tart
Today begins the month of August.
Does this reality fill you with a sense of expectation or dread?
August’s arrival is a whispered announcement of summer closing for the season.
A wave of panic may descend if June and July were not aligned with expectations.
I love the tried and true summer drink of an Arnold Palmer.
You know, half iced tea and half lemonade.
A delicious thirst-quenching mixture of sweet and tart,
pale and dark,
a base,
an elixir,
and a shot of caffeine.
Density differences between the two liquids cause the drink to remain separate, each part assuming an opposite part of the vessel.
A swirl of a spoon and unity creates a heightened taste.
I think summer resembles an Arnold Palmer.
Some weeks are basic.
Some weeks are sweet.
Other weeks are tart, to say the least.
Many days require a kick of caffeine to keep up with the pace.
For me, summer has been a bit upside down this year.
The sweet layer consists of high school graduation, college orientation, moving my beloved mother closer to our family, and taking a vacation in June.
Oh, I can’t forget the return of our blueberries. Glory!
The tartness has come from hurting my back, a daughter and son-in-law with Covid, being unaccustomed to taking an early vacation, a canceled long-awaited concert, and the relentless heat.
Oh, I never planted sunflowers or nasturtiums this year.
There have been many aspects of this summer that have felt more functional than frivolous. I have spent more time researching dorm list items than travel destinations. I have risen early not to greet the sunrise but to begin the seemingly endless process of cooling the house to combat the daily inferno.
When I realized yesterday was the final day of July, I had to stop and exhale the last 61 days.
Those days were marked with fun, frenzy, and folly but this is the whole of life not only summer.
We put so much pressure on summer when it is only one season.
Let’s open our arms wide to embrace and encounter the next 31 days.
Let’s make a list of a few ways we can soak up these upcoming August days.
Don’t make a LONG list, it only adds pressure.
Don’t make the list hard either.
Make a doable list of simple ways to feel how you desire to feel about summer.
An even better idea is to choose only one itty bitty summer item.
Trying to squeeze every conceivable idea into August can feel like trying to hug a chicken,
a bit impossible and extremely unsatisfying.
grab a blanket and stargaze
have a dessert picnic at sunset
go to a drive-in movie
create lunch from farmer’s market finds
drive to a neighboring community you have never visited
read a book at the park
visit a waterfall
take a hike
go to a free outdoor concert
plan a progressive patio meal with neighbors or friends.
reconnect with a friend
sit on your deck, patio, porch, or lawn and make a toast to summer, preferably clutching an Arnold Palmer.
If your summer has felt different, a bit disjointed, or maybe a little out of control,
pick one thing to add to the mix of August and allow it to be the spoon to swirl all the sweet and tart bits of this season.
May your summer taste cool, refreshing, and delicious.
