Perfect Summer Day

Yesterday…..

It's hard to get three popsicle-happy boys to pose for the camera!

The boys and I spent about two-and-a-half hours in our backyard, doing the things we were meant to have been doing all summer long but hadn’t (not really): running through the sprinklers; shooting each other with squirt guns; eating popsicles; and, most of all, having fun!

You know that scientific principle that says, “objects in motion tend to stay in motion; objects at rest tend to stay at rest”? (I’m paraphrasing, I’m sure you can tell.) I’ve discovered the same can be true of where we spend our time: “Folks who are mainly indoors tend to stay indoors; folks who are mostly outside tend to stay outside.”

Here’s what I mean…..if we spend most of our time in the house, the house feels like this safe haven. We think of the outdoors as either too hot or cold, too buggy, too weedy, etc. There are lots of things to do indoors—computer games, TV, toys, chores. So we stay in our safe little cave-like house and never venture out.

But then! One day we’re forced out, for whatever reason. And I mean truly out—not just house-to-car, car-to-store kind of out. In my family’s case, it was our trips to St. Pete Beach and then Illinois. My parents’ house is very bright and sunny, and when we’re there, we spend a lot of our time outside—swimming, sitting on the pool deck chatting over beverages, etc. In Illinois, we spent most of our time at the reunion outdoors, on the huge patio deck, or out on the dock or in the water (boating, swimming). Even when we were simply traveling (that trip was an awful lot of driving), we were exposed to plenty of sunshine streaming in through the car windows.

After all that, we returned to our dark, cave-like house. It’s nice and cool, so it does feel good after the heat, I admit. But it’s dark. And not exactly a palace of perfect cleanliness and organization, either (though I wish it was!).

I started getting crabby almost from the moment we arrived home from our travels; and my mood was not improving as the days went by.

On Saturday, I couldn’t stand another minute. I got up and put my shoes on and headed out to do some yard work. Who likes yard work? Not me—at least, I never think so. But once I get going on it, I find I enjoy the effort involved, and it is very satisfying to pull up ugly weeds, rake pine needles into enormous piles, and so forth. Brian and the boys even joined me, and a goodly portion of our jungle-like backyard got mowed before the machine’s motor bit the dust (“SNAP!” was the sound it made).

Well, “It’s always something,” as Gilda Radner used to say. But at least part of our yard is clear, and the boys and I had an absolute blast yesterday.

Today, it’s been partly cloudy; the forecast says scattered thunder storms throughout the day. And I’m not feeling too well. Maybe it’s because I was on my feet all day yesterday, or maybe I’ve caught some kind of bug, but something’s not right.

Which is a shame….because I’m just itching to get back out there and soak up some more sun!