Long days filled with sun. Plates piled high with watermelon. Berries decorate bushes. Friends and events litter our calendars. The air has a slight scent of sunscreen. And nothing beats the long summer days that don’t end until the stars decide that it’s their turn to light up the late-night sky. Summer is a season that encourages community and energy radiates, charging our batteries to achieve more. The warmth of the air pushes outdoor activities. And desperate cries to cool off are heard by lakes and oceans. No school brings uplifted attitudes from kids and parents are met with a fully color-coded planner. Summer is a busy time, but a time for amazing opportunities and memories. No matter the person, the Summer season will always flood our minds with occasions that entice us to reminisce. For me, although it may not be my favorite season, it holds many substantial moments.
Early Summers Moments
For those who don’t know, growing up my whole family spent our time split between Colorado and Kauai, HI. So it was a toss-up as to which state we would be spending the summer. In my earlier days, we spent those long days jumping through sprinklers and drinking out of hoses in the peripherals of the Colorado mountains. We would pack up our camper and drive to the mountains to watch the chilly air pass through the pine trees and explore the streams and lakes with our bare feet. We played baseball in the driveway, and ate our after-dinner ice cream on the swing set. And when the 4th of July rolled around, we would drive up to our grandparents, where their town threw an all-American party. There were food trucks and games. A park that we would pretend was our kingdom. We would find a spot on the lake with our cousins, aunt and uncle, and our grandparents. We would eat, play on the shore, and when the lights were switched off the show would begin. We would lay on picnic blankets decorated in our red, white, and blue watching fireworks paint the night sky with shimmering colors.
Then as we grew, we began spending more and more summers on Kauai. We would take advantage of the long days and dive head-first into adventures with our youth group. And enjoy weeks away at summer camp learning about the Lord and leading Vacation Bible Schools. Then we would spend the 4th on a beach with friends we considered family, shooting off our fireworks and invading the space around us with food, a beach fire, and sparklers.
Then my sophomore year of high school and we were back on the mainland. I had begun to take dance more seriously, dancing every day of the week when I was in school while auditioning for summer programs. I danced at Colorado Ballet summer program for two years. Dancing occupied my days from morning until evening, enjoying the opportunity to sleep in on Sundays. Having that day to adventure. And spending those 4ths with my parents, brother, aunt and uncle, and cousins at a lacrosse game where we waited to party to country music and watch the fireworks light up the stadium. There were also a handful of trips to Europe sprinkled in after my programs had concluded. Then my senior year, I attended Boston Ballet's summer program where the 4th was spent surrounded by friends watching fireworks from our dorm. After the program finished I flew off to Portland to help my sister pack up her dorm. We spent those few weeks exploring, camping, eating, and experiencing my sister's world.
Present Summer Moments
College summers felt like a different life entirely. The first was spent exploring the Colorado mountains with my sister. Then the second was in the summer of 2020. Yes, the beloved year of COVID. I came home from school at spring break unaware that I was not going to return, like most students. So I began my summer with celebratory pancakes in the comfort of my home. I then had an extremely complicated flight where a friend and I had to spend the night in the Oahu airport before we were able to let the summer truly begin. That summer was filled with a 10-day quarantine and a lengthy resume of beach days, hikes, workouts, sunsets, camping trips, and dance parties all tied in a bow of peanut butter, pretzels, and salads. That was the start of my sister and I living together… It was a fun time. That year we spent the 4th again among friends and ate our body weight in watermelon.
The summers since have been less of an exciting time, but still filled with long blissful days of sunshine, hot air dragging us to the ocean, and people persuading others to take advantage of each moment this season brings. Unlike school where the months, may at times, become uninspired; summers are now more of a game of Tetris. Fighting to fit in work and play. Helping with our church's kids' camp, grabbing dinner after an evening surf, or visiting the north shore after work to spend time with the explosive colors that invade the sky as the sun tests the moon's patience. Summers now are meant for moments to re-appreciate the world around us and to pick up our attitudes that the previous season's gray atmosphere had left. To catapult us into a new attitude to finish out the year.
Seasonal Possibilities
Not everyone is going to share the same experiences as others. We each carry our traditions and personalized memories. But, I can guarantee that more than one of us has spent 15 minutes trying to open an Otter pop, tried to refill a Capri Sun with air and give it to someone else, let the UV rays dance along our skin tinting our cheeks a soft red, feeling the fireworks sound recherche throughout the inside of our whole body, sang the national anthem at a baseball game, husked corn in the afternoon, camped under the spotlights of the stars, lived for camp and V.B.S., and lit marshmallows on fire working to achieve that golden glow that our tinted cheeks will eventually reveal. Summers bring new people, new locations, and new scenery. My family explored Europe as a way to stay educated during our time away from school. Some experience the joys of Disney and some road trips to new states marking them off one by one. It is a time when busy schedules are doable because Summer is the partier who leaves no room for anyone to say, “no”. It coerces us to step outside and reflects on us the full life that we often forget we have. It is a time when we bless the Lord for fans and wake up to the morning sun as it waves at us while our 6 AM alarm clock questions if we should find a new job. We experience the wonder that is science and the earth's rotation that God perfectly formulated.
The Summer season holds a special place in a lot of individuals' minds. It is a milestone among students and teachers. It’s a time when workers can play once they sign off, due to the elongated visible hours of the day. It’s people celebrating the country that God gave us instead of cursing it. It’s a time when beaches are full and peaches, berries, and watermelon make up most of our diet and apple pie and burgers fill the rest. Sounds cliche, but we all know it’s true. Summer holds a never-ending place of superiority. I hope you are all enjoying your summers so far. Enjoy the weekend and don’t forget to share The Allie-Way, subscribe to make reading new posts easier, let me know your thoughts, and follow on Instagram. Thanks for reading Allie-Cats!
Dru Allie
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