by Mark Burch

Created on: February 18, 2009

Oh the smell of suntan lotion in the air, and all the tanned bodies walking around under those white fluffy clouds in the dark blue sky. What's not to like about summer? Sure, the heat can be opressive, and the electricity bill can climb into the stratosphere, but the benefits far outweigh the few negatives described above. Wearing shorts and flip flops, drinking cold ice tea and riding your bike through a park, that's what makes summer so special to me.

Live just seems to be easier in the summer. No coats to worry about, no chilly floors under your feet at 7 a.m., not a windshield in sight in need of ice scraping on a warm summer morning. Life is better, the water is warmer, and the kids can stay out past 8 p.m. playing until sunset. I think summer offers us hope, a new beginning, something to look forward to, and appreciate while it's here.

Our lives are so confined during the fall and winter season. Most of us work inside, and many of us drive to work in the dark, then drive home in the dark when our day is over, it's depressing that our lives have come to this, and winter does us no favors in this matter. Then spring rolls around, and flowers start blooming, and the days get a bit longer. Suddenly, we are driving in the sunshine again, and can actually go outside with a light jacket and enjoy watching the sunset before preparing dinner for our families. Spring gives us hope that summer will soon be here.

Finally, Summer appears in all it's glorious beauty. Long days full of sunshine, pools opening all around and children laughing long into the evening. Warm nights, and even warmer days. Time to start planning that summer vacation to the beach with the kids, and late night walks on the sand with your spouse. There's soccer and baseball, football and basketball, and even horseshoes and checkers for the older folks. Sitting on the porch at night is once again possible, and picnics in the park with baskets of food and drink are now back on the calendar for a few short months.

Hiking trails and new adventures call to us during the summer, beg us to explore and discover new things. The kids can sleep late, although that rarely happens with the young ones, and the daily schedule is not so rushed with school lunches, books and backpacks. Instead you take your little one to a nearby summer camp for their own little adventures, and then you pick them up later and hear about their amazing discoveries. Suddenly, even our own work doesn't seem that bad, we find ourselves eating lunch outside under a beautiful Oak tree covered in millions of green leaves, and planning a dip in the pool after work with the kids and and a barbeque later in the night. Oh how i wish summer would hurry up and get here again!

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