100 Things I Love About Summer ~ By Kim

I started to write a post about what I love about summer and then I read this clever one from Kim Tackett, who writes an amazing blog called Tour of No Regrets. She captured the essence of summer perfectly and I wanted to share her thoughts with you. I bet you will agree with her list! ~Suzanne

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Thanks Kim!

Most people know I am not a fan of the heat. Therefore, it would make sense that I’m not a fan of summer. I presumed this was true, and started a 10 Things I Hate About Summer post. But the fact is, once I listed “the way the sweat drips down your back at 6:30 in the morning” and “the way your skins sticks to the car seat” I didn’t have much. As a lark I retitled this 100 Things I Love About Summer, and imagined I could muster up 10. Not only did I get to 10, but 100 was pretty easy. Go figure. I told Steve what I did, and even he didn’t believe me…but I did, I do, and here it is.

Flip flops (and wearing them to work, because I can)

Evenings in the patio

Homemade gazpacho

Baseball, almost every night (hey Kruk, hey Kuip!)

The Tour de France (at least 21 nights…hey Paul and Phil!)

Tan lines

Tan legs (especially Steve’s…mine, not so much)

Watermelon and mint

The smell of tomatoes in the garden

And basil

Planning trips

And taking them

Remembering how my daughters’ hair used to smell like chlorine, sunscreen and sunshine after a full day of swimming at the UCD Rec Pool

Remembering a day at Huntington Beach with my BFF, Kathy (also seeing Honk at the Golden Bear)

Iced coffee (best cold brew recipe ever, here)

Finding a postcard in the mailbox from a friend traveling abroad (and the words “traveling abroad”)

Reading something kind of trashy (or at least not serious)

Escaping to the coast for the day, in shorts and sweatshirts

Grilling almost every night

Kayaking in Tomales Bay

Patio dining

Smores (at least once)

Strawberries for breakfast

And dessert (really, strawberries anytime)

The bluest blue of Lake Tahoe

New notebooks piled high for the back-to-school shoppers (even if I’m no longer one of them)

Sunroof open, music up

Farmer’s market for Wednesday supper

Sun tea

Cherries

Turquoise pedicures

Open windows, all night long

Movies in the park (even if we don’t stay for them)

Hanging out in folding beach chairs (anywhere)

Surprise guests, passing through town

Buying magazines (lots of them)

Popsicles (with or without alcohol)

Lemon anything

Frozen anything

Polkadot anything

Fields of sunflowers surrounding my town

And the corn, growing up for the autumn mazes

Also, on the cob, with salt and butter please

Seasonal TV watching (American Ninja Warrior and So You Think You Can Dance, please don’t judge)

Straw purses and bags, maybe a floppy hat (though I look terrible in hats, it’s the thought that counts)

Fourth of July bike races in Davis

Sparklers

Waving flags

Evening light

Neighborhood sidewalk chalk art

Umbrellas, especially striped ones

Swapping my alarm clock for the sunrise

Hammock napping

Hiking

The feel of beach sand

The sound of the waves

The smell of the ocean

Pretending I am blondish rather than grayish

A surprise rain storm

Sailing (in my imagination)

Also canoeing (also in my imagination)

Seeing my two adult daughters at the same time, at least once

The first whiff of pine trees when you arrive in the mountains

Bright yellow

A reading list I may never fully achieve, but always anticipate

Crafts, and craft projects past (especially ones with paint and glue)

Maps all over the house

Outdoor concerts

Our own ukulele concerts (for 2—we’re not ready for the public, really we aren’t)

That giant zucchini hiding in the garden

Salt water on my skin

Frozen bananas

Roadside fruit stands

Ripe peaches

New sunglasses

Perhaps more than one pair, just because

Freshly painted Adirondack chairs

Weddings (theirs and yours)

Anniversaries (ours)

Birthdays (mine, better with age)

Camping, or at least the thought of camping

Blue skies forever

Occasional fluffy clouds

Hey, is that a delta breeze?

Coronitas (that’s a 7 oz. Corona beer, or as I call it, snack size)

Sunshine and sunflower seeds at the ballpark

And singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame at the Seventh Inning Stretch

Daisies

And lavender

Ripples of water in a swimming pool

And those little floaty wings, waiting by the side

Plus water floats shaped like donuts, or a giant pink flamingo

Short hair cuts

Hawaiian music

Hay bales

Thinking back to swimming in the ocean with my mom, Aunt Brenda and Grandpa George

Salads (it’s what’s for dinner)

Soft serve ice cream on a roadtrip

Umbrella drinks, with a slice of pineapple

How happy and healthy everyone looks (because no school, vacations, sunshine and a daily dose of ukulele will do that to you)

Kim Tackett writes Tour of No Regrets and you should be reading it. She’s so talented. Thanks again Kim.