Balmy Breezes and Indigo Evening Skies

Ah, the lazy, delicious days of summer with balmy breezes and indigo evening skies, calendar-less days and a slower step.

We just got back from our annual summer barbecue with neighbors across the street, to celebrate her sister's arrival from Texas for a week of vacation. Ten adults, ten kids...chatting, laughing, singing happy birthdays over barbecued chicken, cold watermelon, my sweet-peppery cornbread muffins and gooey birthday cake.

And the local Thursday nights summer-concerts-in-the-park started this past week. We pack our antique picnic basket (a 1948 wedding gift to my parents) with sandwiches, munchies and fresh cookies,and rush to the local park with lawn chairs and the dog for three hours of music under a leafy canopy of trees.

Early July summer is an oasis for the spirit with the promise of endless weeks of vacation, rest and sacred dithering, of deadline-less days and commitment-free weekends. Of dreaming away hours over books, of baseball games and hometown heroes at bat and on mound, of relaxing visits with friends and family. And ahhh... the cooling comraderie of summer backyard barbecues and swimming parties.

Please, indulge me...tell me it'll never end.