A Summer Full of Nothing

Though my calendar says the summer solstice is on June 20th, today is officially the first day of summer in my house. I know this because yesterday was the last day of school. And because I willingly let my kids eat deep-fried macaroni and cheese balls with a side of jelly bellies and salt water taffy for dinner last night.

After, a-hem, “dinner,” instead of homework, they rode their bikes with friends in the middle of our street — with no shoes on and some with no shirts, either. Then they played tag until the street lights came on. (Which is the universal sign for when children must be home in Alameda.)

Since the kids were happily occupied, I sat and chatted with a neighbor over a glass of wine on the front porch. We talked about some fun day trips we want to take with our kids, while her toddler drew beautiful (and quite colorful) chalk murals up and down my walkway. Since we’ll both be staycationing this summer, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Monterey and Alcatraz all came up as possible places to go.

Even lying in bed typing this, the sweet and tangy smells of summer are wafting through my open window. My wisteria blossoms are mixing with the scents of someone’s barbecue and it’s making my mouth water. I can hear people’s glasses clank and low murmurs of conversations with bursts of laughter here and there. It’s a perfect match to my husband’s jazzy music playing in the background.

I love summer in Alameda. Yes, it’s colder than Alaska in the mornings. Yes, the wind will pick up in the afternoon. And yes, for the two weeks total that it will get over 90 degrees, I will complain because, well, that’s what I do. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm looking forward to doing a lot of nothing this summer. Just like what I listed above. Doing nothing with my family and friends is a definite highlight of the warm weeks ahead and I'm truely look forward to doing lots of nothing this summer. Maybe as much nothing as I possibly can. Actually, I think I'll start now.