Ten things I hate about summer:
- Sweating.
- Never knowing how to dress for the constant fluctuations between instant outdoor heatstroke and freeze-your-freckles-off air conditioning.
- Shaving my toes. Or, more accurately, forgetting to shave my toes.
- The smell of self-tanner. (I have been using this spray tanner from Neutrogena, excuse me micromist; it has a very mild, very fleeting scent but the scent is there. Also, I cannot tell if it is doing ANYTHING to “build my all-over flawless tan.”)
- Persistent debris – sticks, leaf bits, dirt, pebbles – all over my floor.
- Relatedly: stuff stuck to my feet.
- Sunblock, especially putting it on my child. WHEN will she learn to apply it herself, thoroughly and accurately and regularly? Please say eight, please say eight.
- Watermelon, and the abundance thereof.
- Wasps.
- How fleeting it is. A friend summarized it yesterday: “We have four weeks of camp, then two weeks of vacation, then a week at home, and then it’s pretty much back to school.” Nothing like packing your entire, much-longed-for summer into three short clauses to make it feel like it’s NEARLY OVER already.
Ten things I love about summer:
- Walking in the sunshine, and, whilst walking, stepping into a sudden patch of scent that wraps you in a lovely fragrant cocoon: clover, honeysuckle, lilac.
- Freckles.
- The near-constant thrum of distant lawnmowers. (Not to be confused with the angry drone of lawnmowers in your own yard, always too early or during a Zoom call.)
- Fancy cocktails, fresh fruit, and their delicious intersection.
- The thrill of watching pea shoots and tomato plants stretch toward the sun.
- Reading outside in the sunshine.
- Grilling. I don’t care what it is. Throw it on the grill.
- The opportunity to sleep an extra hour, if desirable/doable.
- NO SOCKS NEEDED.
- How fleeting it is. It feels rare and precious, and I spend all summer reveling in its many joys, trying to tilt the bottle of the season to just the right angle so I can savor every last honeyed drop.
What are your favorite/least favorite things about summer?
Oh, I love summer so much. I just love warmth, and gardens, and not taking 15 minutes to get dressed in layers every day. I love all the fruit, and just slipping on shoes or sandals without socks. I DON’T love air-conditioning cranked up to high settings and I don’t love mosquitoes. Otherwise, I pretty much like it all.
Ugh mosquitoes 😠
Love: swimming pool!
Hate: too hot to play in the back yard.
(It’s so hot and humid down south…. I’m sweating in the shade, and it’s 10 a.m.)
Humidity is the WORST.
I love not having school because I always say “school ruins everything.” I love being able to lay around with the children or have the children go off and do something downstairs while I sit in my chair and read and we don’t have anywhere to BE.
I hate the heat. It was 107 yesterday.
That is not an acceptable temperature, Jen. Omg.
Before anything, I have to ask…what’s your beef with watermelon? Other than it’s sticky? Also, all Neutrogena products seem to have a medicinal smell to me – so I’ve quit buying them altogether.
Summer – I LOVE summer (but I also LOVE spring and fall…winter? Sometimes until it gets really cold and stays cold and then ices over and knocks all the trees down into my yard!). I don’t care for humidity…but then I remind myself over and over that the humidity here is NOTHING compared to Houston. The bugs, snakes, mosquitoes, etc. also ruin the summer vibe.
What I love about summer? The laid back vibe – particularly once our company instituted summer hours a few years ago. NO SOCKS! Bare feet almost all the time.
Have a great weekend, Suzanne!
I hate everything about watermelon. Every. Thing. Hope you have a great weekend too!
The weather can be really miserable where I live. so humid. Before the pandemic, trying to work with the kids at home was a challenge, but now that’s an all-year challenge. My favorite thing is going to the beach.
Oh, the fruit! I forgot the fruit, especially peaches.
Oh how I love summer. I love the pool. I love warm sun and going for a walk or run without wearing a zip up. I love to be tan (I know, I know, not supposed to love). I love having my kids around more- well they work a lot but I enjoy the down time when they are around and there is no homework. OMG I also HATE watermellon. Why eat a fruit that has no decent consistency AND tastes like water? Yuck. Oh, I also love undressed and backyard parties. Graduation or whatever.
Floridian here. Summer is my least favorite season, lol. It’s just too hot to be outside, unless you’re at the beach (ew) or in a pool. And it just feels like every other season for me, as I don’t have kids. So I’m basically just praying for the months to pass fast so I can get to cooler temps in… like… November. Ha.