summer smells like coconut suntan lotion and tastes like pineapple
summer nostalgia
I enjoy the seasons, but summer and I used to have a contentious relationship. If you had asked me as a girl growing up to describe summer in one word, I would have said "migraines". When I was younger, the endless heat of July and August brought out my migraine headaches something fierce, and I was always counting down the days on the calendar until autumn made her way into my everyday life. Thankfully as an adult, the frequency of my summer migraines has lessened dramatically, and I can now enjoy the sunshine months in relative pain-free ease.
As a child, summer may have weaved her rays through my head at times endlessly and mercilessly, but there were good times too, sun kissed skin ushering in bleached blond hairs always sprouting up on my temple.
Summers of years gone by hold the fondest memories. Popsicles, oh so many popsicles, cherry was my favorite, trying to finish it before it melts but it manages to dribble down your chin. Sticky fingers, so sticky! Jumping in the swimming pool, couldn't we swim forever? Folding chairs burning hot with the sun, watch your skin!
Sleepovers, so many sleepovers, what are we watching tonight? Popcorn, pizza, renting videos from the local video store. Long afternoons spent reading, probably reading The Babysitter's Club or a Nancy Drew mystery, drinking glass after glass of lemonade. Riding bikes with nowhere to go, nowhere to be. Don't have to be home till dark, till the streetlights come on, don't you remember? Fireflies and junebugs, nights lasting forever. Campfires, tents, and smores, laughing till your belly hurt.
No school for two whole months, what are we going to do? K.I.T. and "Stay Sweet" always and forever. See you when I see you. Shall we go to the pool again or hey, who's up for the beach? Suntan lotion, so much suntan lotion because this was the era of baby oil and burnt skin. Laughing as the waves crashed over us. So much soda, how many cans is too many?
And then that summer clock began to turn rapidly, summer's heartbeat pounding faster and faster until...
The bleached blond hairs at my temple have given way to tiny baby grey hairs. Summer still tastes like pineapple, but it tastes like fresh strawberries too. Watermelon so sweet, you smile just as the juice dribbles down the chin. Suntan lotion has given way to sunscreen (suncream), the higher the SPF, the better. And don't forget your sunhat. Oh, and your sunglasses.
Many moons ago, summer used to taste like mango margaritas, but those days are long gone. Iced tea mixed with lemonade quenches my thirst and tastes magical and doesn't leave me with an alcoholic headache, longing for a nap.
Summer became a season I enjoyed exponentially when I became a mother.
Seeing the season through their eyes has been a gift that I always and will continue to treasure. Eating ice cream together, laughing as it melts, this is joy. Afternoons at the pool, hearing over and over again, 'Mommy, watch this!' 'Mommy, watch what I can do!' I'm watching sweetheart, Mommy's watching.
Lazy mornings followed by days at the park, ending with cuddles on the sofa while watching Frozen again and again. Beach days, play days, days at the lake, days of doing nothing, days of farmer markets.
Days of just loving them and being oh so grateful and wishing time wouldn't move quite so fast.
I've been through so many iterations of summer, too numerous at this point to count. And while autumn will always be my favorite season, there really is something about those summer months that never quite leaves you. I think of childhood summers that eventually merged into teenage summers. Only two years between them, but 16-year-old summer and 18-year-old summer were so dramatically different.
I think of the summer when I first had a newborn to the summer many years later when pregnant again, my morning sickness gave way to insatiable cravings for cherry pie and cherry frozen yogurt, anything cherry flavored really.
I remember the summer I got married and the summer celebrating my ten-year wedding anniversary.
The summers that weren't sun-kissed, the summers that were difficult, I remember those too, but thankfully they don't take up as much room mentally. The good always outweighs the bad and those long days of sunshine goodness, they really were magical.
Whether she meant to or not, summer definitely has a piece of my heart. She knows that I am an autumn girlie, but she understands that we have come a long way over the years and now each June on her arrival, I welcome her with open arms. I trust her and know that she has my best interest at heart.
She gives me a big hug and whispers 'We're going to have the best summer yet!'
What a beautiful read. Like you, I haven't always loved summer. It is absolutely brutal here in Australia and I am also a fellow migraine sufferer, which makes it tough. But as I get older I can also see the beauty in it... I do love evening swims and ripe homegrown tomatoes!
I love how evocative this is Mackenzie, I can almost smell the suntan lotion. I've eaten a lot of pineapple and coconut lollies this summer and they absolutey transport me to a tropical place! That picture, just too cute.