Lazy Summer Days

Summer is wrapping up. Back to school is almost here at my house. Two more weeks and it’s over. Teachers are headed back into the classroom, putting the final touch on lessons plans, and making sure everything is ready for the big day. Parents are headed to the stores to get school supplies, and kids are squirming and whining that summer is almost over while secretly yearning to return because they’re sooooo boooored.

What’s a writer to do?

Write. That’s what. My son is back and forth between our house and the neighbors. Kids come squealing through my front door and then back out. I’m snagging bites of lunch in between jotting down notes for a new scene, writing a blog post, and making sure no one ends up bloody or broken as they jump and flip on the trampoline.

It’s chaos. It’s loud and distracting, and as much as I am looking forward to school starting, I will miss this when it’s back to the normal grind. Why?

Little bits of imagination are scattered throughout my house right now. My son has gotten interested in animating, so his camera and boards are scattered across the kitchen floor along with scraps of paper and bits of modeling clay. Legos and blocks and various other bits are strewn around the living room, and I have no intention of enforcing the ‘pick up after yourself’ rule because they are works in progress.

Summer is spread around my house in various projects that soon enough will be abandoned and put away as my son heads back to school. They will be replaced with homework and reading assignments. The laughter and squeals of children being creative will be replaced with my son practicing his instrument for band.

I will miss the bits of randomly made up songs and the laughter and fits of giggles that echo from the bedroom as the kids make up a game. It’s all part of the madness that is summer. They’ve turned boxes into boats and spaceships. Became turtles and raced through the living room. Played freeze tag while running through the sprinklers. Tramped down to the river to cool off. Ridden bikes to the store to buy ice cream. Slept under the stars on the trampoline. Dreamed. Hoped. Played. Laughed. Made memories.

That’s what summer is for.

In two weeks, my house will go back to being silent with only the click of my mouse, the tap of my keyboard, and the forlorn meows of lonely cats to shatter the quiet. I will go back to being semi-anti-social as I hole up for winter and write. And as lovely as the silence is, I will still miss the loud distraction of summer.

So enjoy eeking out the last few days of summer. I’ll be over here in the sunshine with my laptop watching the kids as they become dinosaurs and destroy the village.

What are your favorite parts about summer? Leave it in the comments.

Happy Writing!