The Gifts of Summer

It is week twenty-five in our fifty week challenge, which means we are half way through the year. To celebrate, our prompt this week was Summer Dreams. Whatever Summer means to us, use it, create it, and have fun. I was weeding, as usually do in the morning, and thought about Summer. As I was working I wondered what around me felt like Summer, weeds and charcoal from my husband’s grill came to mind. Could these be art tools? Why not, let’s try. So after I cleaned up I sat down to in my studio with charcoal pieces and weeds in hand. Not the easiest tools to use, yet it was fun to try. The large letters were written with charcoal, the grass, lady bugs and sad fire flies were written with the weeds.

Sometimes I get stuck in a rut, maybe you do too. Keeping our lives working as we want them to work, means activity, responsibility and even doing the dull stuff when you had rather be doing something, anything else. Trying to write with weeds helped me manage an otherwise menial task called weeding. I hunted for the right weeds to try, which turned it from a task into a treasure hunt. Some times we need do the same thing a different way. Be it home, work, family, community, personal, physical, mental, even imaginative realms, we need to keep it all going to keep ourselves going. They all have demands and as one person we have to navigate getting and keeping it all done. Whew! It can be a lot.

And then Mother Nature helps us by bringing on Summer. That time of year when everything seems more colorful. We take naps, we take trips, we play more and the word vacation becomes a reality in whatever form it takes. The days are longer, the night sky seems more magical, and our attitude towards our world just feels better. Summer music, summer food, long afternoons enjoying the outdoors, and even cool nights to help us sleep and dream. Ah, the glory that is summer! And living in Georgia, I choose to see the beauty not the sweat, humidity and grueling temperatures. I choose to enjoy these days as they will not last.

Whatever it is you do today, turn it on it’s head and enjoy a bit of that Summer pizazz! Do it differently this time, challenge yourself, or just try something new. Summer gives us the gift of a light heart and energy, so take today to put the gifts of Summer to work in your world.