Summertime.

I was writing up a little list of "things to do this summer", including both the large and small (get the front yard looking great, swim in a lake, eat watermelon) and it brought back other summer memories.

Some of my favourites: Staying up late, late in August and sitting outside with my mother in the dark, watching the meteor showers and talking. The clink of ice in her glass and the glow of her cigarette in the dark. The "oooh!" we shared when a "really good one" streaked across the sky. This funny little tub of tanning butter I had for about five years and spread on every summer while lying by the pool. The scent of that little tub is such a powerful trigger: one whiff and I'm 15 again.

Corn on the cob, watermelon, barbecuing steaks, burgers, and potatoes. Staying downstairs in the afternoons because it was so much cooler in the "basement". Walking barefoot--gingerly at first, then by the end of August, my feet were all "toughened up". Hopping along when the pavement was hot. The smell of campfire smoke, the smell of newly mowed lawns, the smell of big, fat raindrops hitting the dry sidewalks. The smell of lakewater. The feel of sunburn. The crack and rumble of an electric storm in the afternoon.

This summer, I want to experience some of that again--but it's not like it was when you're a kid. No more long, endless days. But I'm still making my list: I'm going to swim in a lake, go for Sunday drives just to see and explore, eat watermelon, and sleep naked, among other things. I'm going to try and avoid the sunburn, though!