Last weekend of summer

I can hardly believe I typed those words above.  When summer started I had half a year to go before 2014 went into my history book.  I had vowed to spend more summer time out of doors, and I did that. Actually, I'm proud I did that.  I've always wanted to do that.

When I was young I spent a lot of my summer time outside, I would put on my bathing suit, lather myself up with baby oil, go out into the back yard and lay in the sun for what seemed like hours, or at least until my skin was red as a cooked lobster.  Then, I would do that again and again, all summer long.  It was wonderful.

Then, after I grew into an adult and had a full time job, outdoor summer time was restricted to two weeks a year.  Lucky me.  I could only hope my vacation weather would be sunny, although sometimes it was not.

Then, I got married, we bought a house, and my out of doors summer time increased, only I was not lounging on a blanket lathered up in baby oil.  Nope, I was a suburb gardener, back lot clearer, shrub and tree trimmer mom and wife.  There was never enough summer time.

Suddenly, I got (insert shuddering here) old.  For reasons I'm still not sure, I didn't seem to have time to sit outside in the summer, I spent most of that marvelous time indoors doing....basically nothing. Oh, I did stuff, house cleaning, laundry, daily chores, etc...but mostly (and in retrospect) I wasted time...I WASTED A LOT OF TIME.  Time I should have spent outside, soaking up the sun, reading books, enjoying the breeze, learning the intricacies of nature, but, did I?  Nope.  Lots and lots of summers flew by, totally unappreciated by yours truly.

This year, during spring I vowed  I was going to appreciate summer. There are so many months out of the year the weather is uncooperative to outdoor activities I decided I was going to make up for them by being outside as much as possible during this summer's months. I'll be honest with you, I was not sure I could or would follow through with my outdoor plan.  Well, guess what?

I spent a lot of time outside.  I did some yard work, (not labor) but enjoyable yard work.  Snipping here, pulling a weed there, that kind of thing.  I took pictures, a lot of pictures, mostly of flowers and a few bugs.  I read books, sitting on my park benches, under my umbrellas.
Sometimes, I just sat. Occasionally a friend would stop by and we would chat.  We had Bible study outside as well, on quite a few occasions.

I tried to figure out why I was able to enjoy the out of doors this summer, and just today I figured it out...this year I did not allow myself to feel guilty about 'other things I should be doing' whilst I was enjoying summer.  It's been one heck of a ride.  

And, now, here it is the last weekend of summer.  I'm sad.  But, I've already vowed that next summer I'm once more going to allow myself the luxury of enjoying summer out side, snipping, pulling, snapping, reading, talking, and sitting, just sitting...soaking up the sun and devouring what nature has to offer.