Savoring Summer

We really have nearly two months of summer remaining, all of August and most of September.  As soon as September rolls around, I get that "back to school feeling" and begin settling comfortably into Autumn.  A friend recently posed a question about making August more "August-y" and so I am posting a little list of ways that I savor the last full month of summer.

• Listen to the CD Summer by George Winston

• Compile a playlist (on Pandora, Grooveshark or whatever your online musical resource is) of songs that really say "summer" (Could be Sheryl Crow's Soak up the Sun, old school Beach Boys, whatever YOU like!) and listen to it often.

• Make homemade ice cream.  Don't have an ice cream maker?  Here's an article that suggest 6 ways to make ice cream without an ice cream maker.  I have this little low tech number: The Donvier Ice Cream Maker.

• Reflect on what you love most about the season: Write an acrostic poem for the word August or the word Summer, or an "In August I Am..." poem, such as those we shared here on my blog last summer.

In August,

 I am

a barefoot walking

blackberry picking

meadow singing

sky gazing

wave flowing

early riser.

In August, 

I am

AWAKE! 

• Make a list of all of the things you wanted to do this summer, but haven't gotten to yet.  Start checking them off!  

• Make a list of all of the foods that say "summer" to you and have a backyard BBQ or a picnic with that list as a menu.  What's on it?  Corn on the cob?  Watermelon?  Cucumber salad?

• It feels summery to me to be planting things.  End of season sales at nurseries are a lot of fun.  Sometimes things are looking a little sad by August, but they can be greatly discounted.  I love to find a bargain on a perennial I've had my eye on and then bring it home, plant it, and lavish it with tender loving care for the rest of the summer.  

• Learn the "Sun Salutation" Yoga sequence and practice it in your backyard in the cool air of dawn before the heat of the day sets in.  Meditate or read in the shade of a favorite tree.

• If you live near water, get out and do something "beachy" a few times in August.  Dip your toes in at the lake's edge, or plunge right in!  Go for a fast ride on a small boat, or take float down a lazy river.  Watch the sun set from the shoreline. 

• Go to a park and swing on the swings, whether you take a child with you or not.

• Go to a local festival or carnival and ride the ferris wheel at  night.

• Lie out way past dark at least one night in August and watch the slow dance of the stars overhead.