Summer's just around the corner...

Hi all- It's Sydney writing... While Laurie and TerryinCa are away, I will keep posting so we can continue our chats on successive posts, like we did at Jackies -- and at the same time, maybe the specific subject headings for things like books and movies can always be returned to. Whatever suggestions people have, whatever works in our little neighborhood.

OK, so the pedometer invitation went over like a lead brick, lol. What shall we talk about instead? Memorial Day is coming up three short weeks... can you believe that summer will be upon us?!?! On the East coast, it's an unspoken agreement that summer is boxed between Memorial Day and Labor Day. People go to the Cape, the Hamptons, The Jersey Shore etc.. in droves on the weekends for that brief few months. Suddenly Labor Day arrives and enmasse, everyone decides it's all over, packs away their canvas bags and swimming trunks and fits their still tan feet back into street shoes. Yet the weather continues to be summery for about 4 more weeks, so I would stage my own private protest each year. I decided it wasn't the end of summer til I stopped celebrating it. I continued to wear flip flops, capri pants, brightly colored tees and my straw hat traipsing around Manhattan. I'd make myself a picnic and would go to the park or sit out beside the Hudson River and enjoy the sun, though the quality of the light was certainly changing and the days got a bit shorter... Summer seems so fleeting when you live where the season change, while winter, after the holidays are over, seems to D-R-A-G.

Now I live in a place that does have seasonal weather changes but it's mostly warm and sunny... it's wonderful but not as sweet somehow. Wherever you live, I imagine we all have our favorite summertime rituals. What are yours? Traditions? Family gatherings? Activities you take up? Is there anywhere you regularly visit? Is there anything you're hoping to do this summer that you have never done before?