SUMMERTIME--AND THE LIVING AIN'T EASY!

     Can you tell this has been a busy, busy summer? I haven't written a post since about the middle of May! Of course, that isn't unusual for my summers to be super busy. I always laugh when I think of the song which goes "Summertime and the living is easy!"  because it has forever been the opposite for me.. In fact, that is one of the reasons I am not fond of summer. I don't like the go, go, go, busy, busy, busy of summer. Yard care, garden produce to take care of, family and  holiday events non-stop all add up to hardly time to breathe-- much less relax!
   Truthfully, however, I have been forced to take time to relax in between everything this summer because my body won't cooperate if I try to go non-stop.  I have taken time to read several books and taken naps at all times of the day just so I can do the other things that summer demands. Of course, the fact that we have spent two days a week at our part-time missionary assignment has made it even more difficult to fit everything in. That year-long assignment was completed last Wednesday, July 23rd, and now we should have a bit more time to be busy with other things! :)
     The activities which most people look forward to in summer--swimming, laying out in the sun, picnics by the dozens, boating, vacations to exotic places--have never appealed to me, and I don't handle the heat very well either, so those are all reasons summer is not my favorite time of the year.
      However, even with all that , there are some very nice things about summer. I love the melons, and all the other fruit, and  fresh vegetables from the garden, corn on the cob from the stands, special family times such as getting together for the 4th and 24th of July and not having to bundle up in coats etc. to go outside, and in addition,  I have always loved the changing of the seasons which makes for so much variety in our activities, dress and even the foods we prepare.
   Now, I can look forward to my favorite season--AUTUMN--when everything seems more intensely beautiful. After the harvest is in and taken care of, the pace of life slows just a little so we can breathe easier for a quick respite before the holidays. Autumn -- I know it is coming, and that relaxes me just to think about it.