Things I Love About Summer, Part 1

1. Cherries. I have a story about cherries, see below, after the ***. But, aside from that, cherry pits make me think of summer break from school, lounging in the kitchen and spitting in the trashcan.

2. Seed spitting. (speaking of cherry pits) And watermelon seeds. What other time of the year are you allowed, encouraged, even, to spit?

3. Swimming. There's nothing like feeling that hot hot sun beating down on you and then getting into the water and feeling it splash over your skin and just...ahhhh. Summer essence, right there.

4. Fireworks. Even though it's not here yet, Independence Day is around the corner, and flashy displays will be everywhere. When I was a kid, they terrified me (once I hid in the bottom of my uncle's boat and cried while the rest of the family sat up top and ooo-ed and ah-ed), but fireworks have grown on me. They're celebratory excess of the best sort.

5. Snow cones. Like eating ice, but better. When it's over 100 degrees here, nothing cools you like a snow cone. Spearmint is the best, followed by mango and cherry.

6. Sock knitting. Hooray for wonderful, portable projects that can travel along with you on vacation and sit with you at the pool and rest in your lap while you eat corn on the cob.


***I did a little grocery shopping yesterday on my lunch break. Somebody in line, a few people down, asked me how much the cherries were that I was holding. I told him they were about $3/lb, which was on sale for half off. This sparked a big conversation in line that generally went along the lines of oh-my-god-how-could-you-spend-that-much-on-cherries. I really didn't think that $3 was that expensive. This one, ahem, larger-ish man was really kind of rude and I wanted to note that I was getting somewhere better spending $3 on cherries than he was spending whatever he was on hamburgers and french fries, but I didn't. Then the checker(!) said that you could almost fly to pick your own cherries for that price. I was really angry by the time I checked out. Who critiques other people's purchases at the grocery store?!?

Sorry to end so abruptly--I'll be adding more, soon, but unfortunately as I get older there's still work in the summer, and that's where I'm headed now!