It’s just begun to feel like fall in the past few weeks here in Arkansas. These cooler temps make me reflect on summer and where it falls when ranking the seasons as I get older.
When I was young, summer was my favorite season by far. It was the only one that really mattered to me! Summer meant no school, playing outside, riding my bike, skating, catching lightning bugs, softball, and I could keep going. Summer was simple. I remember swinging; throwing a softball up and catching it; skating on my carport pretending I was on ice skates in the Olympics; even drinking out of the garden hose even though I never thought it tasted very good. Summer seemed endless.
As I got older, summer still held that magic that the other seasons didn’t. As a teen, going to the lake, whether out on a boat or just at a swimming area, was an almost daily part of life. It still meant no school, and time slowed down again. We cruised town from Damsite to Sonic over and over. We met up in the Alco parking lot. We even had a time when we hiked through woods looking for haunted places. Those 3 months again seemed to last so much longer.
After graduating college and becoming a teacher, summer still held that special place. Even though I had some professional development in the summer, I still had time off to golf with my school buddies, lay by a pool, work on projects around the house, and rest. When Tylar was 5ish, I made the transition to administration at school and lost most of those summer days. Then travel softball became a way of life for us, and our summers were spent traveling the country and spending many, many of our days at a softball field. Brodie came along, and summers continued with work and watching softball.
And then, time just took off. Gone were the days that seemed to last forever. I rushed from place to place trying to work, keep everything going at home, and travel. Some of the magic of summer faded, even though I looked forward to the season each year. I would never, never trade watching Tylar play ball. Man, was she fun to watch! Sometimes I physically long to see her on a field one more time. Summer became a busy season of life, but that didn’t make it any less special. It was just different. I wish I had embraced those summers more instead of rushing so much. Those times when the kids were younger just flew by. That old saying about the days being long but the years short keeps coming up in my thoughts! Summer was still magic; it was just a different kind of magic filled with friends, being outdoors, and spending endless hours in a car together as a family.
It was during those years that fall began to have a magic for me as well. I think it meant life slowing down and cooling off as well. I eventually couldn’t sit out in the direct sunlight during an Arkansas summer like I did when I was younger (thank you post-Brodie hormones). It came with a special feeling of excitement about the changing seasons that I never felt when I was young. I didn’t really notice the leaves changing or that feeling of recharging when I was a kid or young adult, but as I got older, the beauty of fall made it a really special season.
So now, what’s different? How does summer feel compared to the other seasons? Is it still #1? Well, I’ve retired from the extremely stressful world of education. I’m working part-time and mostly from home in a zero-stress job. Tylar is grown, married, and living in Kentucky. Brodie has just turned 16 and has chosen, we’ll say, a life that isn’t just about sports 🙂 He enjoys baseball, golf, gaming, school clubs, fishing, eating, Youtube, etc…, so I am home more in the summer. I still get a special feeling as those spring days begin to warm into summer. It doesn’t hold the exact same feeling as it did when I was young, but I think when I fully retire, that may come back. Life is slowing down some, and that slowing down has made me realize what a blessing the busy summers were and that these slower days are equally special.
So, after careful reflection, here is my ranking of the seasons:
- Summer
- Fall (it’s a close 2nd)
- Spring (I didn’t talk about spring, but I LOVE when the grass greens and the trees and flowers bloom!)
- Winter (a very, very distant last place-a shorter winter is one of the many reasons I love the South)
Leave a Reply