Growing up in the far northern climes of Vermont, summer could be summed up in one word, which, oddly enough, is the same word attributed to its winters, only for different reasons.
L O N G E R
There is only one question to ask when living with and through a northern winter…”When will it end???”
No one I’ve ever known would dare ask that same question from the 4th of July through Labor Day, which in the best of years, is a Long Vermont summer.
A better question for summer is “When will it begin????”
But the Longer that lives in the northern summertime, isn’t for how many months, or weeks, or days, it lasts…it is for those Longer days, Longer bike rides, and Longer games in one backyard or another. Longer moments of peace among the winter weary, battle fatigued, cohabitants that are brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. Longer trips looking for warmer weather, with Longer hellos, and even Longer goodbyes.
Summer is a Long way from Long in the north.
At the same time, there is also only one question I know to ask as a northerner living with and through, a southern summer… “When will it end???”
My slow melt begins in April, with signs of ripples in May. Then I start to bubble in June, and by July, I’m roiling out of the proverbial ‘melted pot’. By August, when coincidentally enough, the homicide rate begins to increase, I’m ready, willing, and able to add to the statistic of “Heat induced insanity killings”
It’s only the 9th of July here in Virginia and I’m ready for it to end. I’m Longing for cool days and cold nights. I want to put on a hoodie and go out by the campfire, watch the lightning bugs, and gaze at the stars in the crystal clear, cold cleansed sky.
I’m tired of the inside of my house. I’m heart-sick at the number of times I say no to ‘Grammy, can we go out so I can run through the sprinklers?” because that would mean I’d have to go O U T there to supervise.
I’m disgusted that the longest walk I take all day is from the front door to the mailbox and even then, if I knew someone else I could ask to do it for me, I’d PAY them to do it!
I am glared at by my four legged pal who wants nothing more than to run around the yard, chasing something…anything…as long as she can runl. NO, No, and no, because that means I’d have to go O U T there and participate! Ugh
I Long for shorter days.
I Long for cloudy or rainy days.
I Long for someone to pick up on the fact that I wear a “Let It Snow” night shirt EVERY night hoping it’ll happen.
If you haven’t noticed…I hate the heat. But even if I didn’t…I’d hate T H I S heat!
When. Will. It. End?
50 Shades of Gray Hair 