Summertime Blues? No Way!

I've heard so many folks complain about the summers down here in Equatorial South Arkansas--
the heat, the humidity, the mosquitoes, the heat, the drought, the heat... It's enough to make you want to wear earplugs, for gosh sakes. When I was in school (shortly after the dinosaurs died off), summer was the second best time of year, behind only Christmas. It was a time of endless lazy days full of adventures just waiting to be had. The whole world was in your young hands to do with as we pleased.
As I've gotten older, and marginally more mature, I find that several things seem to anchor down my pirate ship ready to sail the oceans of summer. Work, responsibilities, family, bills, committments all fill up slots in the schedule, leaving little room for unfettered adventures. But then, I remember something someone very wise once told me: If you can't find time to have some fun, try ignoring something else for a while and grab some gusto. Do the dishes really have to be done right now? Does the laundry have to be washed immediately? Can your grass wait one more hour to be mowed?
The only thing in our lives we can really spend well is time. Money buys us luxuries and necessities, but in time, they all wear out or are gone. Time well spent leaves lasting memories and unfading smiles. Take a little time each day (who knows how many we have?) to walk in the woods, to watch butterflies in a field, to float on a pond, to play with a puppy. Take your kids to a park, plant a tree or some flowers, visit a museum, call up a friend to just chat. Take your Mom or Dad to lunch, write a poem, have a picnic. The list is virtually infinite.
Summertime is still the grand old dame of our lives, no matter how old we are. The whole outdoors beckons us. Listen. Then do.