Summer nights are for grilling, balsamic chicken and searing flank steak. Sweet corn on the cob fresh from the garden, skewers of shrimp with lime and herbs, thick slices of zucchini dizzled with olive oil.
Summer nights are for staying up too late, my girl playing in the water hose as I attempt to water the flowers, her diaper soggy and sagging from ‘helping.’
Summer nights are for dessert at the lake, watching the sun set, the sailboats come and go. For feeding the ducks and geese and one lone swan, worrying about the fuzzy babies separated from their moma’s. For chatting with the elderly woman who comes every single night with bags of bread in hand. She sets up her lawn chair and waits for the flock. They know her well, they expect her. They eat from her hand until the bags are empty and she ushers them across the street to bed down, halting traffic when necessary.
Summer nights are for homemade pizza ‘picnics’ in our bedroom floor, our girl dancing and twirling scattering crumbs near and far.
Summer nights are for country drives, when the daylight lingers long and we squeeze out every last drop of life, savoring this slow season of joy and simplicity.
Summer nights are for driving up to the hill that rises over the water, city skyline imposed on a purple evening sky. Our girl sleeping strapped in her seat, we stare out at the lingering sailboats and talk, and plan, and dream.
A season of ending and beginning at once.
That’s what summer is for us. Always has been, it seems. It brings with it transformation, the heart kind, the life kind. I’ve come to expect it.
Fall is coming. We can almost taste it now. A few more weeks of summer and then… bliss. Forever my favorite for a thousand reasons: crunchy leaves, pumpkins, cool weather, travel. But also for us, something more: Fall is when the hard work of summer soul labor is finally done, the deep, hard, introspective kind, and we feast. We feast on life, and love, and God. We experience the fullness of transformation. We rejoice. We give thanks.
The work isn’t quite done this season. There’s more toil yet still. But oh-so-soon… the anticipation is is mounting.