I love the idea of summer more than I love summer days.

Yes, summer is walking in the light at 9:00 pm, sleeping late, and the beauty of unstructured days.

Summer is the vibrant hum of kids laughing and splashing, porch-sitting, and barbecues with friends.

The beach during the summer months is probably why scrapbooking was invented.  

Summer is promise of a new school year that feels forever away.

It’s pressing a wrapped sandwich from a cooler to your cheek, and reaching down into the depths, with faith that your hand will find a cold drink.

Summer is slower; easier somehow.

June is sweaty adventures in fresh-cut grass, fireflies, and the birth of fairies.

July and August have magic, too. My son’s birthday is in July. Mine, in August.

So yes, I love summer.

But.

But there are some things about summer that are less than magical. 

Seven Things I Hate About Summer (and Some I Love About Summer)

1. Mosquitoes. I grew up in Colorado, and sure, there are mosquitoes there, but holy mother of horror, the mosquitoes here in Northern Virginia make the ones in Colorado look like couch potatoes.
2. Ticks. Ticks in Colorado? Maaaaybe during the month of June, if you’re in the mountains. My brother got one after a camping trip when we were kids. The one my dad pulled from the back of his neck is the only tick I ever saw in Colorado.
   Here in Virginia? In April (APRIL!), when I first moved here, I took my dog Chief for a hike. We weren’t out for more than a couple of hours and came home with almost 20 ticks between us. Seriously, WTF?
   That was not a solitary incident. Here, people get ticks sitting in their yards, or on Cub Scout trips. This past weekend, we took my son to a rocket launch and saw two within minutes of one another. *SHUDDER*
3. Bugs.
   See above and don’t even get me started on cicadas, one of whom is responsible for blowing up my light fixture after flying into it one night. 

   3.5 Cicadas. I *know* they’re harmless, but they’re loud, creepy, and sneak up on you. You can be having a pleasant night outside, hanging on the porch after having some grilled chicken and a beer and BOOM! One’s squacking near your hair. Maybe aiming for your ear, to lay a million baby eggs there. Also, they are ugly.

   

   (and he so is beyond fucking ugly)

4. Humidity. I remember the morning I was confused as to why my living room door was fogged up, like a bathroom mirror. Had I left the door to the bathroom open while showering? Nope. The fog was on the outside of the door, and that’s just wrong.
5. Unstructured days. Yeah, yeah, I know I said up there in the intro that they’re awesome, and they can be, when mama doesn’t need to work, go anywhere, or happens to enjoy some time on the porch without the constant ask for “more water balloons,” or hearing “I’m bored” for the 1,001 time.
6. It’s. Freaking. Hot. I don’t like being hot. I don’t love being cold, either, but at least when you’re cold, you can snuggle up in a bunch of blankets and warm up. When you’re hot, and middle-aged, it’s not like you or anybody else wants you peeling off more clothes than you wore to the playground.
7. Shopping for swimsuits. Enough said. Ok fine, I’ll say more. Even when I was young and fit, I hated shopping for swimsuits. It’s just so much pressure, or something.

Those are the seven things I hate about summer.

Still, I’m in love with walking in the light at 9:00 pm, sleeping late, sandwiches from a cooler, birthdays, and the promise of river adventures and fireworks seen from the cooling sand of a beach.

Also? This boy’s hair, that has grown from my words of “your hair, your choice.” There are days I’ve hoped he’d decide to cut it. Tonight, after swim practice, I looked over and was like “OH. THIS.” This is why we do this.

If there’s a such thing as summer hair, my not-so-little-little boy has it, I think.

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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. This week’s sentence is “The things I love and hate about summer…”