July 27, 2011

The Upside to Summertime.

Coney Island Beach, Society 6
Everyone's whining about the heat in the South, and I get it. It is balls-hot outside. But whenever I feel even the least bit grim about it, I consider the alternative, which is the bitter, icy, gray, endless sonofabitch that is winter.

Here I am in the middle of another love affair with summer and I'm sticking my tongue out at Old Man Winter. As with most love affairs, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so as I pined for summer throughout the winter it grew more luscious in my mind. Turns out, it's not technically especially luscious these days in Nashville, where the thermostat in my car reads 103 just like everyone else's.

But hear me out because what I'm trying to say is ... summer really is great; you might just not know it right this second.

Here are some quick notes on the joys of summer:

- the days are longer and more crammed with backyard BBQs, outdoor concerts, happy hour cocktails on patios, festivals and block parties.
- tans really are pretty if you don't think about the cancer part.
- idealism comes easier. For instance, I like to think that if I lived in California, I'd surf. And I like to think I'd have a body as warm and brown and Banana Boat-smelling as a coconut cake fresh out of the oven.
- romance comes easier, too: picnics and initials-carved-in-trees and bare legs all help with that.
- the trees and grass are greener and thicker and, on a personal note, offer more privacy so I can pretend that I don't live in such close proximity to crackheads and thieves.
- ice cream tastes even better.
- loud music in the car sounds somehow better when the windows are rolled down.
- ceiling fans are awesome.
- people take more vacations 'just for fun' instead of the obligatory treks lots of peeps have to take for winter holidays.
- swimming pools, oceans, and lakes are pretty and swimming underwater is magical.
- pedicures don't go to waste.
- sunshine is an all-natural mood booster.
- the produce is fresh and colorful and the food is lighter and healthier.
- fireflies.

OK, that's all I got at the moment, but I know I'm leaving tons out. You guys have anything add to this love letter to summertime?