Summer Routines

Welcome to July.  What a glorious month, when time seems to actually slow down as various vacationers find their rental keys tucked under the doormat/decorative frog/whimsical and ironic hipster gnome/whatever and unlock the possibilities of the restful summer weekend.
I have come to the conclusion reading over the viewing stats of RWF carefully meditating in the summer sun, that summer changes routines.  I think it’s an important concept to embrace–it helps delineate the passing of the year.  Here are some of the changes I notice in myself:

Changes as I Embrace My Summer Routines

1. Coffee.  

I don’t drink as much coffee in the morning during summer months.  It’s nice to let the daylight wake me up. Also, coffee tastes more like Bailey’s than usual different.  I think there is probably some Eastern medicine explanation about hot drinks on hot days?

2. Bedtime.  

In an inverse relationship (look it up) with my coffee consumption, I seem to go to bed later in the summer.  Yes, I’m a teacher and don’t have to “go to work” in the summer.  But that’s besides the point.  I embrace the late night hours more, the delicate time around sunset that seems to stretch out in the heat like sidewalk gum.

3. Cleaning.  

Something about summer makes me a little tidier.  Maybe it is the crushing heat of the mid-afternoon hours, or the allure of shuffling around as a way of relaxing, or the way the summer sun picks up the coating of dust I generally allow to accumulate over all my worldly possessions, but I enjoy doing dishes, sorting through pictures and picking kinder egg wrappers out of the couch a little more during summertime.

4.  Stress.  

Summer has a way of sorting out what is really important.  I talk to my family, read good books, write what I want and enjoy the things I do each day.  The grind is removed more for me than people engaged in other professions, but I think the summer stress reduction is true across across the board.

5.  Food.  

I seem to eat a little less in the summer. Thank God.  Except I’ve developed this strange habit of eating chocolate for breakfast.  I’m telling myself it’s very european–for now.  C’est la vie. Summer beaches below!