Best of Summer

Inspired by “10 Most Fun Things to Do in Summer,” a post by Georgia Miller, young daughter of Karen Maezen Miller, on Karen’s blog, Cheerio Road, July 13, 2011. I chose to list summer bests.

• My gardens: the colors, the scents, the wind moving through. Waves of purple petunias. Orange and golden and multi-color marigolds. Impatiens. Old-fashioned pink roses. Coneflower. Cosmos. Daisies and yarrow. Velvety orange tithonia. Lilies. Zinnias.
• Morning walks in the shade on the Monon or elsewhere
• Green. All kinds of green: light, dark, greeny-yellow, piney-blue-green. All sorts of textures.
• The play of light and shadow as the light changes throughout the day
• Spotting fireflies in the gloaming
• Sitting outside in the dark around a fire with favorite people, telling stories
• Driving in the country at dusk
• Sleeping in on the morning of a rare thunderstorm. Hearing rain on the roof of the skylight (or a tent).
• A concert or theatre outdoors, with a picnic. Or  an old-fashioned melodrama.
• Festivals and fairs and lemonade
• The cool interior of a library on a hot day. Library reading programs.
• Viewing the movie “Independence Day” on the Fourth of July, every year. And a parade. And sparklers.
• Real tomatoes, especially on a BLT
• Road trips: Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming. To be visited: Maine, Montreal, Prince Edward Is. 

What's on your list?