Happy summertime, everyone. I hope you had a perfect Fourth of July! It’s been an amazingly hot week in so much of the nation, and we’re no exception here in Minnesota. I’ve also found myself battling the classic MN pest lately: mosquitoes. Last night, I read an article that noted if you eat a lot of garlic, you’ll repel ticks more effectively. It had me wondering whether it would also repel the flying, biting, bothersome “state bird.”
But heat and mosquitoes are merely part of the summer equation. The other pieces are so lovely that I find myself feeling silly about complaining of heat or insect bites. On Memorial Day, I started a running list of summer things that I enjoy, with the goal of doing something summery each day for the 90 warmest, longest days of the year here. So far, so good. Six months from now, when we sit in the darkest and coldest of days, I plan to use that list as a touchstone. Something to get me through winter. Whether it’s a bike ride in the sun, dining al fresco, reading on the lawn, eating watermelon, or walking barefoot through grass matters not for my list’s purposes. What matters is the full immersion of the senses in the most robust season.
My suspicion is that most folks tend to read more fiction in the summer, but I find myself turning to nonfiction, especially when I have questions such as “What repels a tick?” or “Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice?” For me, nonfiction raises so many other great questions to think about and investigate. And summer allows me a little more time to follow those information threads. What does your summer reading list include?