Ah, summer.  Long, leisurely days under blue skies.  This is the time we look forward to all year, the season around which the others hinge. 

Summer marks a pause, a lightening of schedules, a welcome respite in the middle of a busy year.  Summer’s slower pace allows for lengthier conversations, for books to be read that have been shelved too long, for freedom to chase hobbies and fireflies.  Who doesn’t love summer?

But I have a confession to make – summer is not my favorite season.  That title belongs squarely to spring.  Spring – with all its color and promise – has always been my favorite.  Everything looks new and feels fresh after the long, cold, quiet winter.  Spring brings new life – and hope.  It resonates with my soul.

I am not, however, sad to see spring go.  I know that summer follows.  And summer is not without its own appeal.  Summer is multifaceted.  As it progresses, it reveals itself in new ways – all of them glorious.

Early summer is all excitement and anticipation.  The making of plans, the gearing up for the fun ahead, the enjoyment of newfound free time.  Booking travel, shopping for swimsuits and flip flops, grabbing a copy of this year’s best beach read.  Settling into the season’s new routine – a wonderfully carefree one. 

The middle of summer is busy in the best way.  It’s best experienced on the back of a jet ski, under aquamarine water, or walking along a shore littered with shells, feeling the sea wind on your skin, breathing salty air.  The heart of summer is filled with beach bags and suntan lines, with road trips and backyard barbeques.  It’s for family reunions and catching up with dear friends. 

It’s needing a vacation from your vacation because it was so filled with fun that it left you exhausted – in a good way. 

Summer means renewal – whether that’s found on a kayak deep in river territory, eyes open, alert to every turtle sunning, every bird singing, every drop of sunlight glistening on the water, or whether that’s found on a chaise lounge, still and silent, eyes closed, drinking in the jasmine-scented air and letting the heat melt away stress.  Relaxation takes many forms, and the center of summer sees them all.

Late summer is a warm, contented peace.  Late summer is a place you want to linger.  It’s a link between the fun and frolicking of the season that’s ending and the hopeful anticipation of the new season on the horizon. 

Late summer beckons to you to pause once more, breathe deeply, and enjoy the waning warmth of the season.  Fall is ahead and with it new responsibilities and new possibilities, but it is not here yet. 

Summer issues a final invitation to rest, one last call to renewal – draining the dregs of summer’s abundance.  It’s an embrace of rejuvenation that will carry you into the latter part of the year.  Summer’s last days are a gift. 

The question of when summer actually ends is answered differently by different people.  There is the official end of the season – when the autumn equinox occurs in late September, and the unofficial end of summer – when school starts in August (at least for those of us in the Southeast).  Depending on which camp you find yourself in, the last days of summer could be late July/early August or a month later in September. 

I fall somewhere in the middle.  I don’t need the calendar’s permission to hang my fall wreath, but I just can’t think about pumpkin spice when it’s 90 degrees outside!  For my part, I hold on to summer through August.  Vacation may be over, but summer isn’t.  Not yet.  I have one more cobbler to bake, one more beach read to digest, one more day trip to the coast. 

Then, around Labor Day, I’ll put up my white shorts and straw hats and take down my boots and scarves.  I’ll begin thinking about stews and football and holiday plans.  But not yet.  It’s still summer, for a little while. 

The end of summer isn’t sad.  Our hearts are too full now to be sad.  We rest in the memories we’ve made and look forward to what’s ahead.  The end of summer is a quiet contentment; a raising of the glass to the setting sun, casting its golden glow on the season that’s ending, knowing it’s been a full one, a rich one; and savoring the last sips of summer.