Summer Breeze

I'm sitting at the kitchen table as I write.  The sun is shining and a gentle breeze is wafting through the open windows.

It is August in Maryland.  What the hell is going on?

I don't understand this summer.  I have not used the air conditioner for days at a time.  If you know Maryland, that is not typical for the summer.  Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode with the two women in an abandoned apartment building?  The sun is melting them, water is rapidly disappearing, and they are sweating profusely as they fend off a crazed stranger willing to kill for a glass of pineapple juice. Now that's a pretty typical Maryland summer.

The grass is still green and lush.  The produce this summer, while expensive, has been absolutely juicy.  Just luscious!  The sweetest peaches ever.  The slurpiest cantaloupes.  The most tender sweet corn.  Bing cherries as big as prunes. It's a vegetarian's heaven.

Facebook friends fill their pages with descriptions of daytime bike rides, trail walks, and jogs.  In July? In August? In Maryland?  This time last year it sometimes felt too hot to leave the house to go to the pool.

What a blessing this summer has been, especially after such a brutal winter.  And what a blessing it is to be retired and free to enjoy each day to the fullest.