SUMMER

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. “ (Genesis 8:22)

I realize that the official “First Day of Summer” is considered to be around the Summer Solstice which is June 21- the longest day of the year. That said, I follow the “meteorological calendar” which considers Summer to be the months of June, July, and August. As far as I am concerned, June 1 is MY First Day of Summer.

Throughout my life, I’ve had mixed feelings about summer. On the one hand, as a kid it meant quite a bit of time off from school. I LOVED that! Summer meant sleeping late, wearing shorts, spending a lot of time riding bikes and being outdoors; and usually it meant a two-week vacation on Cape Cod somewhere around late July or early August. On the other hand, summer meant lots of bugs and lots of heat. When I was a kid, air conditioning was quite a luxury. I did not have a car equipped with A/C until 1988,. and in fact the A/C in my present very old car doesn’t work. At home, we had no A/C at all until I was around 15 or 16. I remember many a day, and night, of the house being STIFLING hot. I also remember having some TERRIBLE sunburns.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties, Summer meant working at Draper Mills in Canton. This was blue collar work AT ITS WORST. The mill was HOT, loud, and had all kinds of dust and lint all over the place. (And, there were plenty of dangerous chemicals to be exposed to, as well!)

Most pastors don’t like Summer because the average church attendance can drop anywhere from 25% to 50% during the summer. When the church you pastor already HAS a very low attendance, the thought of that is not particularly appealing.

All that said, I guess it’s my age, but I’m really HAPPY it’s summer! I LOVE the spring and autumn and I’m less fond of summer and winter. HOWEVER, the good news about summer is it’s NOT winter! It seemed like this past winter was particularly difficult. The ice this year was horrible. The cold was pretty horrible. The snow was, well, horrible. The heating bills were worse than horrible, and that’s not to mention the snowplowing bills for the church parking lot. Thank God, winter is over! It’s summer! I don’t have to put a coat on! I don’t have to turn the heat on! I don’t have to shovel snow! I don’t have to slip on the ice! My fingers are not chapped, sore, and bleeding (as they are ALL winter!). I also don’t have to do any Christmas shopping, unless I plan to start my Christmas shopping in August, and I don’t! I get to grille outdoors! Now, sometimes I grille outdoors during the cold weather months, but it’s SO much easier to grille in the summer! If the cars get dirty, the outdoor hose is hooked up and I can just hose them down. If they’re dirty in the winter, well, they usually just STAY dirty.

My 2nd favorite holiday happens during the summer and that’s the Fourth of July. (My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.) Some people are surprised that I like the Fourth of July so much (because of all the firecracker noise, etc.). Well, I’m not crazy about firecracker noise, but it’s a whole lot better than the noise of the snowplow coming down the street in January! I love fireworks shows, parades, and cookouts around July 4, and I’m planning to really enjoy this July 4!

I don’t know how much swimming I’ll get to do this year, but I do LOVE the ocean and if I can get to the Cape or Maine or someplace for the ocean this summer, I’ll do it! Even a jump in a backyard swimming pool would sound real good. Maybe somebody will invite me to a pool party (hint, hint!)

There are always people who whine and complain about the heat and humidity in the summer. I used to complain about that stuff constantly. Two trips to very rural and poor sections of Haiti in the early 1990s cured me of complaining about the heat and humidity. At home, I sleep in air conditioning. My office at church has A/C and even our church sanctuary has A/C. Again, summer means NO SNOW and NO ICE and NO COLD, so I plan to enjoy it!

No “summertime blues” for me this year!

Thank you, God, that I am privileged to be alive and healthy for another summer!