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!