Summertime Philosophy

My Conflicting Relationship with Summertime

I spent my golden childhood in Southern California frolicking in the warmth and sunshine. I have spent most the rest of my life in Northeast Ohio frolicking in the…mud,sleet,snow,humidity and occasionally in the warmth and sunshine. I love spring and I love summer. In Ohio you are forced to wait about three months each year from the beginning of spring to when it actually “takes place”.

And then after taking three months to arrive spring suddenly “overnight”: turns into a hot hot summer. Now here is my dilemma:

At the beginning of summer each year I imagine all sorts of great things happening “this summer”. It seems that in my mind anything is possible in the summer warmth. My mood soars upward and I can feel the excitement. I have so many conflicting desires that I cannot possibly sort it out. I want to paint with wild abandon, I want to garden like a fanatic, I want to travel the world and stay home and enjoy our own little paradise. I want to have everyone over and I want complete privacy. Why is this? And the worst part of it is that each year I realize earlier and earlier that I am not going to b e able to “do it all”. For the past several summers I have felt this inevitable disappointment everyday. This year I plan on bringing gratitude into these glorious months. The plan is to each day take time to be grateful and name those summer things that I am thankful for. Instead of dreading the coming of autumn- I will begin to look forward to the joys of painting autumnally. Stay tuned and I will let you know how my little experiment worked

Grassland Diaries- Summer Months

Mixed media, acrylics