THE SUMMER BLAHS . . . UPDATED FOR 2023

The summer WHAT did you say?

I know, I know . . . it's Summertime! The livin' is easy! (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong reminded me just the other day.)

Today is the first full day of Summer. The sun's out most of the time, rain isn't on the menu so often now, humidity bops around between comfy and unbreathable. So why, you wonder, am I talking about Summer Blahs?

Here's why:

• school's out--I don't have the structure I had for nine months of the year.
• there aren't any kids my age in the neighborhood to play with
• a lot of regular activities are re-styled for the summer, so I don't have a dependable list to choose from

I'm not really stuck in childhood--but the summer season reminds me that there's a break in the year that signals a different way of living.

And that's not all--even with air conditioning helping my asthmatic breathing, I feel my energy being sucked out of my body every time I step outside. I don't have to step outside at all, if I don't want to. I can empty the mailbox while standing at the open front door. Amazon leaves my book orders near the door so I'm out less than ten seconds. But sometimes--

And gardening--? Not my thing at all! My daughter loves garden work (so do her sibs). Even filling bird feeders apparently comes under the heading of "Gardening--What to Do When," so all I'm required to do is drive to the feed-and-seed store, have the nice people there load up my SUV with mixed seed and black-oil sunflower seed bags, pay them, and drive home. As for the gardening itself--I'm perfecting my role as Encourager and Appreciator. 

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To battle the Summer Blahs, I have a short list of activities (which I can do alone or with help, and which are done indoors--no special equipment required) that keep me from going round the bend:

• painting--trying new techniques as demonstrated on YouTube tutorials, courtesy of full-time artists sharing their expertise
• sewing--finishing a quilt started several weeks (or was it years?) ago
• writing--keeping my daily journal; working on a novella once a week during a dedicated time
• keeping records--every medical person I see wants me to keep track of something; if I thought I was going to live a lot longer, I'd buy a gross of spiral notebooks and the same amount of pens to keep going; or maybe I'd just invest in a paper company, if it paid good returns on my investment
• sorting stuff--a perennial activity--never a favorite--but sometimes it helps me get through summer days when everything else requires too much effort--going through a couple shelves of books to find some to donate can consume a few hours (have to look through the books again, you understand)

I didn't list reading, and I'm sure you noticed that omission. I'm slowly getting back to reading--not sure yet why the interest waned--that's not like me, at all. I did request a book on the Evergreen service, read it and returned it; so, you see, I did read in this month of June. This year I'm browsing books by artists--not so many words to read, but lots of yummy pictures.

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If you have any good ideas for beating Summer Blahs, I'll be glad to entertain them--but remember, I don't like to travel, and crowds aren't my thing (right up there with gardening--see above). In the meantime, I'll have a cup of coffee, read a little about how watercolorists in the UK got famous with their loose style of painting, and contemplate the feeding frenzies of birds at my now-half-full feeders (replenished only a day or two ago).

Enjoy your summer, if it's your thing!

Blessings for all,

Thursday's Child