By Dr. James L. Snyder
It comes as a great relief to me that winter is over and summer has stepped up and taken its rightful place. I really love summer. I am fascinated with all aspects associated with summer.
Some people, like the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, enjoy the aspects of winter, primarily the cold. I just do not like the cold. I will accept a cold shoulder occasionally, but that is as far as I will go in the area cold.
Winter has no aspects of fascination for me. I do not like being cold, shivering and my nose tingling with frostbite. Winter is certainly not for me.
During the wintertime, I have to wear all kinds of clothing and coats and sweaters. In the summer time, I can relax, sit on the back porch with a glass of iced tea and enjoy the butterflies floating through the flowers. Ah, what a wonderful time summer is.
This brings up the sharp difference between my wife and me. For some reason she loves winter. This may have something to do with her growing up in upper state New York where it is snowy and wintry all the time. I remember visiting once in August and just about froze to death.
But she enjoys chilly temperatures. She enjoys when the temperature falls below 70.
I have a basic rule in life. When the temperature falls below my age, I’m cold. Each year it seems to be getting a little higher.
The thing about summer is simply this; when it gets really, really hot, I simply turn on the air conditioner, which truly works. Not so much in the winter. No matter how cold it is I cannot seem to get the temperature high enough to ward off that chilly, frosty feeling.
I know in the middle of winter we have a holiday called “Christmas.” Have you ever noticed how Santa Claus dresses?
He is extremely overweight, all that insulation under his skin, plus he wears a huge red coat with a hat. Most of the time he is also wearing gloves. If he really enjoyed winter, he would experience winter in the beauty of its rawness.
However, summer for me has many amenities. For example, you can tell your wife that you are going fishing and never actually get to the lake to do any fishing. Along the way, you see a nice area where people are having picnics and just sitting under some lovely trees. Basking in the sunlight of summer is worth all that it is made up to be.
Summer is also the time for picnics.
It begins with Memorial Day, which is the first picnic day of the summer. From then on there is a picnic day set for every month of the summer. In fact, in July, I make sure there are two picnic days just in case I miss the first one.
The beautiful thing about a picnic is you can eat with your fingers. In the house, the wife wants me to eat with forks and spoons and all of that kitchenware stuff. Out on the picnic table I can eat as I am supposed to eat: with my fingers.
Summer is the time to chill out. During the winter you are running here and there and trying to catch up with this holiday and that holiday. Summer is the time to slow down and enjoy the sunshine.
I am not sure why there are more holidays throughout the winter than there are during the summer, but I sure am grateful for the person who set up that calendar. Summer is not celebrating this holiday and that holiday; summer is enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.
Just the other day I was heading out the door and the wife called after me and said, “Where are you going?”
I thought about that for a moment, smiled and said, “I don’t know where I’m going.”
There was a slight pause and then she said, “Can I go with you?”
The beautiful thing about summer is that you can go somewhere without going anywhere. Nothing is more pleasant than having nowhere to go and taking your time getting there.
If I had anything to do with it, and I certainly don’t, I would make sure there would be summer the year round. I will never, ever get tired of the summer time.
Sitting on the porch one afternoon the wife came out and said, “What are you doing? Don’t you have something to do?”
I rocked back and forth three times without even looking at her and said, “I’m doing nothing and liking every moment of it.”
She then joined me in doing nothing and we did nothing for the rest of the afternoon. I had things to do. She, of course, had things to do. But we just joined our hearts in doing nothing together. Nothing is better than a summer afternoon when you can do nothing together and enjoy every moment of it.
I like with the preacher said, “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work” (Ecclesiastes 3:17).
If there is a time for work, then there should be plenty of time for rest. If I don’t get my rest, how can I do the work that I have to do?
