I am still feeling a bit out of place, right smack dab in summer. How did this happen? Why wasn’t I more prepared? Perhaps it was that spring completely skipped out this year…remember that Easter that looked and felt more like Christmas? And what happened to actually having weather comfortable enough to sit out in the evening and enjoy…before mosquitoes hit?
So it’s time…to get myself in the mode, with this year’s post on summer. So here goes:
Summer: The Good
- Crickets. I love the sound of crickets and katydids. In fact, I was delighted to hear my first crickets tonight!
- The circus. And that reminds me…need to order tickets!
- Sun. It feels so good to be out in the sun again. (It’s been really rainy here…very rare for summer around here. Perhaps another reason I’m feeling lost in summer.)
- The pool. The water’s still a bit chilly for this girl who grew up in the north where all the pools were heated…but I’m looking forward to some evening family swims coming up real soon.
- Fireflies. There’s something so fun about kids enthusiastically catching fire flies and collecting them in a jar. We let them go at night…but enjoy the fire fly lantern until it’s time to go in.
- Margaritas and Guacamole. (Or forgo the guac and just enjoy the margaritas.)
- Cul-de-sac parties. (With Margaritas and Guacamole.)
- Longer days.
- Sleeping with the windows open. And hearing the crickets at night and birds in the morning.
- Flip flops + tank tops. (A whole season of far fewer socks to sort and match up on laundry day. Love that.)
- A container garden of fresh herbs + potted tomatoes.
- Potted flowers.
- The hammock.
- Water-fights.
- Giving the dog a bath – outside!
Summer: The Bad
- Road construction. The road out of our neighborhood is closed. This has nearly doubled my trip to Target (and summer camp!) Which do you think is a bigger crisis?
- Skinned knees. (I still run like a mad woman every time one of my kiddo’s goes down for the count. Ouch!)
- Mosquitoes. (Maybe that falls under the itchy.)
- Humidity.
Summer: The Itchy
- mystery rash. So the real reason I know summer is here is because my annual “mystery rash” is here once again. Oh joy! Just about every summer I get my annual mystery rash. And just about every summer, it’s source is unknown. Was I around poison ivy? Not that I know of. A round of 100 questions later, and still the rash is deemed a mystery. The medical term for mystery rash is dermatitis. If the mystery seems to have come from contact with an itchy form of plant life, it is called “contact dermatitis.” This year’s rash was deemed to be the garden variety dermatitis and not contact dermatitis. Which frankly, makes the mystery rash all the more unsettling. I didn’t even romp around in an itch inducing plant for all this itchy fun.
And I share this why? First, because I enjoyed the title, “summer: the good, the bad and the itchy” and the only way I would quit saying it to myself over and over is if I actually used the blog title in a real blog post. And second, so next year when the mystery rash comes around I will remember that mystery rashes remain mystery rashes even when shown to a medical professionals. The way to treat a mystery rash* is with benadryl, 1% hydrocortisone cream, stress reduction, minimal use of soap,colloidal oatmeal baths, and other fun stuff like that.
*Note: this blog post is not to be taken as medical advice. It is just an itchy woman ranting. If you have your own mystery rash, please, by all means, end the suffering and see a medical professional. 😉
OK…so let’s share. What’s your take on summer? Is it good, bad, itchy…or all of the above? I hope you noticed for me it’s mostly good. I do love summer…and now that I’ve spent ample time dwelling on it’s arrival I can simply sit back and enjoy. Hope you will, too!
You have summer where you live? Here in Washington we’re in the middle of rain (the likes of which would worry Noah!) and freezing cold. Grace wanted to go outside to play today and actually HAD to wear mittens, a hat, and her SKI parka.
Junuary – no longer June with the beautiful sun and flowering plants… it is now JUNUARY – with the floods, and drowning tomato plants, and 1 grumpy momma who is FINISHED with this ridiculous weather!
Whew – quite the rant. But I suppose it could be worse – I could have this crazy weather AND a mystery rash!
Christall
the good:
cub scout day camp – blessed relief for a bored kid & a stir crazy mom
the pool is open – kids are entertained
fresh fruit – I love all the varieties and the price is a bit better
the beach – love to sit on the beach & bake the day away
air conditioning – I love coming home to my temperature controlled house
no homework, no carpool line, no getting up in the morning, no school!
the bad:
hot hot hot car – with 100 degree weather & the garage filled with everything that was in the basement until the construction is finished, the car is just miserable to get in
air conditioning bills – 20′ ceilings in the family room are a bear to heat & cool
mosquito bites – even if I’m diligent, I still seem to get eaten alive
bored children – haven’t quite figured out a schedule to keep them busy after day camp
I hope your rash feels better – I get a weird heat rash in the summer if I get too warm.
Your list makes me miss the midwest! Okay, I love not having mosquitos or humidity, I’ll admit, but I miss fireflies and longer days (it gets dark at 8pm here in Phoenix b/c we don’t have daylight savings) and sleeping with the windows open (it’s 100 degrees at midnight by July) and pretty much doing anything outside that doesn’t include being completely submerged in water. I miss fireflies the most. 🙂
Ahhhh…summer!
I found out that I have poison ivy in my yard this weekend. I’m hoping to avoid the itchy this summer.
This summer will be full of yard work, raising chickens, and establishing routines to be ready for home school this fall.
Oooh, I love summer too!! The fact that I’m a teacher helps with that a little bit. 😉 My favorite things…when I can hear my kids laughing and screaming outside and it’s dark! I know they’re having a blast with all the neighbor kids, and they don’t even care that they can’t see! The fact that all the neighbors mow their lawn around the same day. It looks so great, and I know we all take pride in our homes. My kids white butts when they take their swimsuits off. You KNOW they’ve been outside a lot, and that’s a great feeling. That’s what childhood should be!
the good:
we leave for maine in 2 weeks to head to our cabin on the lake
kids have the summer off – no schedules, just chill out time
my babies graduate friday from preschool
the bad:
we leave for maine in 2 weeks to head to our cabin on the lake
kids have summer off – no schedules, just chill out time (gulp!)
my babies (sniffle) graduate on friday from preschool
no itchy’s yet but we will when we get to maine and the misquitos attack us!!
now remember – don’t scratch you itchy’s!!
Seriously excited about summer this year, (strange for me):
– I love rain and this bizarre June has been beautiful
coldest June since 1894.
– new for me, I’m actually looking forward to warm weather
– new for me, looking forward to the kid out of school
I get the same mystery rash (only mine comes twice a year). Next year, try a steroid shot. Goes away VERY quickly. I just call now and tell them “it’s back” and they fit me right in. Hope the rest of your summer is less itchy!
get some calendula cream for the rash! natural and it works!! 🙂
I usually enjoy spring before summer but Missouri forgot to have one. To top it off summer has brought road construction to my subdivision at the same time we are having our porch roof fixed and deck stained. The road construction hasn’t slowed my driving time because it is right in front of my house. Instead I have to carry my groceries and paint cans from half a block away. It’s helping build muscles. Hopefully I will be in the driveway this weekend.
Due to the deck work my houseplants that usually go outside are still inside. The heat and humidity are here but getting organize for summer is coming late.
Good luck with the itchy’s. I have a lot of poison ivy in my yard so I am very careful with the gardening. I jump in the shower as soon as possible after working in the yard. It’s no fun having itchy bumps all over.
At least the weather is warm and the sun has been shining for two days straight.
For me, I would say that summer is mostly good. I love the pace of summer — easy going, grilling out (less dishes to wash!) and playing outside. Love the pool even though I hate me in a swimsuit — that does not seem to matter when I see my kids having oh so much fun. Usually by the end of July or August, I am ready for summer to say goodbye — too much of a good thing can be harmful. The humidity and allergies usually get to me by that time, but nothing can replace the lazy days of summer — in the shade with a glass of lemonade in my hand!
the good: nothing
the bad: heat and humidity
Aby, this native Buffalonian finds that the pool on a 98 degree day in Chattanooga isn’t chilly. By the end of the day, it feels like hot tea!
The Good–No coats, so no coat/scarf/hat/boot clutter with which to contend; the warm, still, star-filled night as I take out the trash (without having to put on a jacket); cold cucumber and dill soup; the icy A/C in the car after leaving a client who doesn’t use her A/C until the temperature gets “a little more toasty than just 90’s”; no hosiery!!!
The Bad–bugs (Sorry, but your crickets and those tree frog creatures just make me want to scream. Happily, the white noise of the A/C blocks most of it.); Clients who want to work on their attics or garages…when it’s sunny and approaching 100 degrees; Hot metal seat-belt buckles; And I’m with you on humidity. If I’d been meant to look like Art Garfunkel, I’d have been born that way!
And if it’s not contact dermatitis (i.e., it’s on parts of you that remain carefully covered), it could be heat rash, made worse by humidity. Try the baby powder made of corn starch — it’s been time tested. (I still remember my zaftig granny corn starch-powdering all around her bosom and elsewhere before putting on that enormous girdle. But it really does work.)
Happy summer!
Gosh, I miss fireflies, thunder and lightning storms… I also miss the smell of a storm (it rains here way too much for it to smell) and we don’t get thunder… well, sometimes but not like the midwest. I am right there with you on the joys of summer. Too bad about the rash, hopefully it goes away! Enjoy the summer!
Hi, I think you are based in Chicago; we are just west in Rockford, IL.
I love change of seasons. I like wearing summer clothes with all the bright colors, playing outdoors, and no school for the kids and having a more relaxed schedule.
bad: not too fond of HUMIDITY
Itchy: I itch too. Sorry, no help.
Being in Australia, where it’s winter I simply can’t wait for summer to get here again! I have a love/hate relationship with winter, so if you have any awesome ideas of things I could do during winter then will you please share and put me out of my winter misery!! Thanks
P.S. Summer ROCKS!!!
The good:
The sun is out but it hasn’t been to dreadfully hot.
I turned in my pool managers keys this year, time to do something else like…………
MOVE INTO A NEW HOUSE!
Settling into a new house and town.
Having DH home every night for the first time in 6 years!
Getting kids registared into new schools.
Getting our lives back to some state of normal ;o)
The bad:
The pool is open in the current neighborhood but it has been to cool to use AND the new pool manager can’t seem to keep the chemicals straight.
Said NEW HOUSE has not as much storage as we have in current house eventhough it is 150 square feet larger! Time to be creative in my organizing!!!
The Good:
Eating outside!!!
Going to the farmer’s market and trying to eat more locally
Spending time with my nephew
Having the windows open
Decorating our house
The Bad:
Decorating our house!!
Buying furniture
Super hot without AC!!
The Itchy:
I am a mosquito magnet!! enough said!
Oh how I miss the midwest…the sounds of crickets and katydids, and catching fireflies, and being able to keep your windows open at night. Oh, and the sweet corn from Fournie Farms or Keller’s Corn. Seriously, your post made me a bit homesick.
Just a note: there’s a new OFF bug spray out this year that smells really good and when you spray it on it feels like powder. It’s aerosol and you can probably get it at where else but good old Target!
I also have a mystery summer rash – the doctor finally decided it was photodermatitis (usually caused by the sun, but I’ll get mine even if I don’t go outside). After years of using benadryl and the other items you mentioned, he put me on Zyrtec (now non-prescription). I take one every day (even through the winter). I rarely itch now, even if I spend time outside. Try it and see if it works for you. Benadryl makes me so sleepy that I felt like I slept through all the fun times my kids were having. Now, I feel like a whole person again!