Hullo, peoples!
Summer is here! For a couple of reasons, Summer seems to have arrived early this year. And thankfully one of those reasons is NOT the temperature. Look, I'm not exactly a sissy when it comes to hot weather, really I'm not. I live in a place where summer temperatures get into the high nineties and triple digits...coupled with air that you can wade through.
My family would tell you I am a wimp when it comes to hot temperatures because I tend to stay inside. It's true I've never been a particularly "outdoorsy" person. The way I see it, there needs to be a reason for going out in the miserable heat. If there is yard work that needs to be done, or if there are errands to run, then yes, I'll get out in it. But you have to ask for my help in the yard. I'm not the type that automatically thinks, "Hmm, I wonder what I can do out in the blistering heat today?" No, I'm inside reading or writing or even working hard in the air-conditioning. Or cooking, or whatever. There needs to be a good reason to step out and plow through that muggy air. I'm not gonna wander aimlessly around in the intense heat just for the heck of it. They might be surprised if they were to ask me to do something with them in the heat. "Hey, do you want to go hiking?" or, "Would you like to watch me practice my archery?" or even, "Could you help me with some yard work? I need to get it done and I could use another set of hands." I'd be like, "All right, sure! Let me get my shoes and put my hair up." I mean, come on! I did survive a month and a half of the hot season of India with no air-conditioning. Give me a break.
What kind of things make you think, "This is what summer is made of"? A few weeks ago I was making a list of some things that I associate with Summertime.
To me, Summer smells like:
Hamburgers grilling...don't you love that moment when you suddenly get a whiff of the smoke from a grill? Ahh! Smells like summer to me!
The smell of freshly-cut grass.
This is going to sound weird, but have you ever noticed the smell of spray-on sunscreen? I absolutely love that scent. Probably because I first used it on mission trips, or on the way to the pool. To me that is one of the best smells of summer, steeped in memories, and full of hopes for the future. Strange, but true.
But probably my favorite smell of Summer is the smell of chlorine. That intoxicating fragrance of a nearby pool. Enough said.
Moving on to tastes. I have two that just shout Summer to me.
The first is orange sherbet. There's just nothing like it. No summer is complete without tasting its simple pleasure.
The second is lemonade. I don't mean Country Time or Gatorade or Hawaiian Punch. I mean real lemonade, the kind made with fresh lemons, real sugar, and with just a hint of pulp. And crushed ice. In essence, Chick-Fil-A lemonade.
I'm a hopeless addict to this stuff. I can hardly go shopping without securing a glass of it. It's like drinking sunshine. The only thing is I have to tell them not to put any of that wonderful crushed ice in it. Well, they dump huge scoops of it into each glass, and that waters it down before I can slurp every drop of its tart sweetness!! And when I order it with "light ice," they never quite make it right. I'd prefer it with light ice if I could just show them how I like it, but oh, well. I just ask for no ice. It's cold enough, anyway.
And sounds! There are dozens of sounds for Summer, but I'll only tell you my top four.
Four: the sound of a lawnmower or edger. (Accompanied by previously mentioned "smell of cut grass.")
Three: The Owl City album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful." It would take too long to explain why, but one summer I lived on that album. I ate, slept, and breathed each song. It got me out of bed in the morning and helped me to keep going through each wearisome day. It helped me to calm down and sleep each night. I love that album for that, but it has its price. See, when you pour yourself into music that much during a certain season of your life, it has a way of revenging itself on you. Now forever embedded in each song is some of the grief and sting of that burning summer. At times the emotion causes me to double over in pain. But it is a price I pay gladly. That album is forever a sound of Summer.
Two: The soundtrack of "The Lion King." This music has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. I didn't grow up watching it, though. It's rather peculiar, actually.
The first time I heard it was when I staying at my grandparents' R.V. back when I was tiny. One of the few feature length movies they owned that I could watch had a trailer (back then we called them "commercials") of The Lion King, opening with the famous musical moment of the sunrise and the Call. I still think today that that is one of the finest opening scenes that Disney ever made. I remember every time I heard it, goosebumps stood on my arms and legs, and I thrilled to the very core of my being. A few years later, at a dance class, I always clamored the loudest for The Lion King to be played during ballet class. I didn't actually see the movie until I was in my teens, and only just before an epoch in my life did I buy the soundtrack for myself. I love that music. It. Is. Summer.
But perhaps the most wonderful sound of Summer is the sound of the crickets at dusk. Dusk is my favorite time of the day anyway, and when I first step outside and hear their incessant, "eeeee-er-eeeee-er-eeeee," I know that Summer has truly come. None of men's creations can equal God's Creation!
Come to think of it, I never did think of anything for the sense of touch. I guess the shock of a first plunge into a pool. Or the feel of grass underneath your feet. Or the feel of the aforementioned dusky evening when the air is mild and breezy and just a little bit humid.
Now sights of Summer, that is easy! I think of leaves and grass shining in the sun, shimmering in the wind in all their emerald glory. Lovely.
Secondly---FIREWORKS! There's nothing like fireworks for a celebration! They're so loud, so joyous, so dazzling! Watching friends shoot off fireworks for Independence Day is definitely, positively, absolutely Summer. "Ooh! Ahh! Wow! Whoa! Dude! Sweetness!"
My favorite; well, it's hard to say, really. But I guess I'll say this is my favorite, since God's Creation trumps man's creation every time. (Including Gandalf's fireworks.) The sight of fireflies in the evening. Enough said. Priceless.
I was intending to put lots of nice pictures on here, but I'm having a little trouble with it, and I'm overdue for a post anyway. So I'm going to post this anyway. Have a wonderful week!
~Cadenza
Summer is here! For a couple of reasons, Summer seems to have arrived early this year. And thankfully one of those reasons is NOT the temperature. Look, I'm not exactly a sissy when it comes to hot weather, really I'm not. I live in a place where summer temperatures get into the high nineties and triple digits...coupled with air that you can wade through.
My family would tell you I am a wimp when it comes to hot temperatures because I tend to stay inside. It's true I've never been a particularly "outdoorsy" person. The way I see it, there needs to be a reason for going out in the miserable heat. If there is yard work that needs to be done, or if there are errands to run, then yes, I'll get out in it. But you have to ask for my help in the yard. I'm not the type that automatically thinks, "Hmm, I wonder what I can do out in the blistering heat today?" No, I'm inside reading or writing or even working hard in the air-conditioning. Or cooking, or whatever. There needs to be a good reason to step out and plow through that muggy air. I'm not gonna wander aimlessly around in the intense heat just for the heck of it. They might be surprised if they were to ask me to do something with them in the heat. "Hey, do you want to go hiking?" or, "Would you like to watch me practice my archery?" or even, "Could you help me with some yard work? I need to get it done and I could use another set of hands." I'd be like, "All right, sure! Let me get my shoes and put my hair up." I mean, come on! I did survive a month and a half of the hot season of India with no air-conditioning. Give me a break.
What kind of things make you think, "This is what summer is made of"? A few weeks ago I was making a list of some things that I associate with Summertime.
To me, Summer smells like:
Hamburgers grilling...don't you love that moment when you suddenly get a whiff of the smoke from a grill? Ahh! Smells like summer to me!
The smell of freshly-cut grass.
This is going to sound weird, but have you ever noticed the smell of spray-on sunscreen? I absolutely love that scent. Probably because I first used it on mission trips, or on the way to the pool. To me that is one of the best smells of summer, steeped in memories, and full of hopes for the future. Strange, but true.
But probably my favorite smell of Summer is the smell of chlorine. That intoxicating fragrance of a nearby pool. Enough said.
Moving on to tastes. I have two that just shout Summer to me.
The first is orange sherbet. There's just nothing like it. No summer is complete without tasting its simple pleasure.
The second is lemonade. I don't mean Country Time or Gatorade or Hawaiian Punch. I mean real lemonade, the kind made with fresh lemons, real sugar, and with just a hint of pulp. And crushed ice. In essence, Chick-Fil-A lemonade.
I'm a hopeless addict to this stuff. I can hardly go shopping without securing a glass of it. It's like drinking sunshine. The only thing is I have to tell them not to put any of that wonderful crushed ice in it. Well, they dump huge scoops of it into each glass, and that waters it down before I can slurp every drop of its tart sweetness!! And when I order it with "light ice," they never quite make it right. I'd prefer it with light ice if I could just show them how I like it, but oh, well. I just ask for no ice. It's cold enough, anyway.
And sounds! There are dozens of sounds for Summer, but I'll only tell you my top four.
Four: the sound of a lawnmower or edger. (Accompanied by previously mentioned "smell of cut grass.")
Three: The Owl City album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful." It would take too long to explain why, but one summer I lived on that album. I ate, slept, and breathed each song. It got me out of bed in the morning and helped me to keep going through each wearisome day. It helped me to calm down and sleep each night. I love that album for that, but it has its price. See, when you pour yourself into music that much during a certain season of your life, it has a way of revenging itself on you. Now forever embedded in each song is some of the grief and sting of that burning summer. At times the emotion causes me to double over in pain. But it is a price I pay gladly. That album is forever a sound of Summer.
Two: The soundtrack of "The Lion King." This music has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. I didn't grow up watching it, though. It's rather peculiar, actually.
The first time I heard it was when I staying at my grandparents' R.V. back when I was tiny. One of the few feature length movies they owned that I could watch had a trailer (back then we called them "commercials") of The Lion King, opening with the famous musical moment of the sunrise and the Call. I still think today that that is one of the finest opening scenes that Disney ever made. I remember every time I heard it, goosebumps stood on my arms and legs, and I thrilled to the very core of my being. A few years later, at a dance class, I always clamored the loudest for The Lion King to be played during ballet class. I didn't actually see the movie until I was in my teens, and only just before an epoch in my life did I buy the soundtrack for myself. I love that music. It. Is. Summer.
But perhaps the most wonderful sound of Summer is the sound of the crickets at dusk. Dusk is my favorite time of the day anyway, and when I first step outside and hear their incessant, "eeeee-er-eeeee-er-eeeee," I know that Summer has truly come. None of men's creations can equal God's Creation!
Come to think of it, I never did think of anything for the sense of touch. I guess the shock of a first plunge into a pool. Or the feel of grass underneath your feet. Or the feel of the aforementioned dusky evening when the air is mild and breezy and just a little bit humid.
Now sights of Summer, that is easy! I think of leaves and grass shining in the sun, shimmering in the wind in all their emerald glory. Lovely.
Secondly---FIREWORKS! There's nothing like fireworks for a celebration! They're so loud, so joyous, so dazzling! Watching friends shoot off fireworks for Independence Day is definitely, positively, absolutely Summer. "Ooh! Ahh! Wow! Whoa! Dude! Sweetness!"
My favorite; well, it's hard to say, really. But I guess I'll say this is my favorite, since God's Creation trumps man's creation every time. (Including Gandalf's fireworks.) The sight of fireflies in the evening. Enough said. Priceless.
I was intending to put lots of nice pictures on here, but I'm having a little trouble with it, and I'm overdue for a post anyway. So I'm going to post this anyway. Have a wonderful week!
~Cadenza
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