Porch Stories: Summer

Today's the first day of astronomical summer in the northern hemisphere; today Kristin writes about Real-life {summer} summer confessions, and I'll pick up on her seasonal topic of summer. "Fe" in the word confession is the Latin word for faith (belief, trust, conviction, assurance). In the church we recite confessions of faith such as the apostle's and nicene creeds; sometimes we refer to theological traditions that include the Lutheran and the Reformed that began with the continental European Reformation of the 16^th century as Confessional Churches, because they affirm as testimonies of faith documents called confession, creed, and catechism that we consider faithful expositions of scripture. Then there's confession of sin, of misgivings, of embarrassments. There's confession or acknowledgment of almost anything different from the norm. For example, although I can enjoy high-quality chocolate, I confess even looking at chocolate anything can make me cringe because it's often one of my migraine triggers. Returning to Kristin, I love that her summer confession list is mostly about doing life in a more casual, offhand, fun and memory-making way.


But I'm not doing summer confessions this time—not quite. A while ago I discovered this evocative collage in several sizes. I can't credit the source as well as I'd like, but the original's from the almost defunct blog, that's what mariel said. Mariel's replacement blog's not active, either.



Just the smell of the summer can make me fall in love
What smells and scents of summer? Ripe peaches. BBQ on the grill. Strolling past a yard and catching a whiff of jasmine. Seaspray and surf along the ocean shore. The distinctive scent of low tide. Sunscreen. Just-mowed grass. Summer air after a rainfall. A fresh catch of fish pulling up to the pier.

Not only summer smells! Any sensory aspect of summer. Trying a few tastes: Juicy blueberries on my morning cereal. More irresistible blackberries from south of the border. The California grown berries have been so amazing lately! A subway sub packed full with most of the salad bar – lettuce, spinach, cilantro, tomato, lots of red onion, green bell pepper, yellow banana pepper – and topped with savory sauces. Ripe peaches, of course!

Sounds? Symphonic summer pops on the Charles River Esplanade in City of History, summer pops along the San Diego Embarcadero,summer pops at the Hollywood Bowl, because that's Where Summer Plays. Sizzling on the grill, surf splashing along the shore, seagulls calling, ice cream trucks beckoning. Firecrackers outside my window a a few seconds ago.

What do I see? Flowers in bloom, Ice Cream Cones. Kids in bright clothes. Sand and surf and sea. And California!

And feel? Sand textures under my toes. Refreshingly cool ocean waves. Watermelon seeds. Skin-to-skin hugs without intervening layers of cool weather clothes!

That's only a short list of summer's sensories that make me fall in love. We have three more official months of summer, with early autumn September and October our warmest months, so let's those summery, too!