It’s raining and 57 degrees right now, which is pretty much how the weather has been for the past few weeks. The last field trip was rained out, the last soccer games were rained out, the last baseball game was rained out, and if “first grade field day” is happening right now, John is missing the canoe he’ll need to get around the field.

Nevertheless, as of 2:45 this afternoon, it’s SUMMER. My favorite time of the year. I’m ready for some hot days and cold gin.

One of the things that I don’t love about being a grown up is that once you start working, you just keep going. There are days off or vacations from time to time, but nothing about July is substantially different than January. It can be a bit relentless.

Being a parent helps to alleviate that, because so much of my day depends on what John’s doing. He’s changing from school to camp, so that’s a big change for me, too. Living in a college town helps define summer differently, too. There’s more of a rhythm to the year, with students (read: babysitters) in and out of town.

These days, summer really feels different, and in a good way. A cocktail in a Sunday afternoon seems perfectly appropriate. Dinners can consist of a ham sandwich and some grapes. Bedtime could be 7:30 or it could be 9:00. I’ll be working this summer, of course, but I might be doing it on my porch from time to time. Or from some other remote, remote location. It’s all a welcome change from the year’s routine.

And for my VT friends who are dreading the hot days that are (I hope) heading our way, just wait a minute. It won’t be long before we’re replacing sunscreen with snow pants all over again.