1. It's lighter for longer, so I can get Domino's at 10pm if I want to without having to worry about losing my life in The Void. Driving in the dark freaks me out - I live in the sticks, where the council helpfully DOESN'T USE ENOUGH STREETLIGHTS, so it's pitch black in places. In fact, it's worse than pitch black - it's vantablack, aka the darkest pigment to ever exist. Fun fact for you there. One bit in particular freaks me out, where it's so dark that I've always called it - you guessed it - The Void. But it's summer, so I don't have to worry about that for a few months.
2. The weather. Here in the UK, our winter doesn't get as cold as, like, Canada, but it's still that level of cold where you shiver so much that it physically exhausts you. You're tense, you're shivering, your teeth hurt because they're sensitive to cold and you're scared of the dentist... maybe the last one's just me. Also, I'm pretty sure I got SAD last year. Soooo, no to winter, yes to summer.
3. The burst of motivation. You know on New Year's Eve when you think of the year ahead and all the things you're going to do? I get that in the run-up to summer, too. There's just so much more you can do in summer...
4. ...like chips by the river; trips to the beach; pub gardens; working outside; walks in the forest; travelling (or dreaming about it); visiting the zoo; general chilling outside without actually chilling...
5. And summer brings so many pleasing things: bright yellow fields; the sound of lawnmowers and the smell of freshly mown grass; Magnums and Ben and Jerry's; the smell of sun cream; happier people; driving with the windows down; bright blue skies; time; flowers in bloom and vegetables ready for picking; shorts; in-season strawberries; sitting outside late at night and not dying from hypothermia; not having to lug a coat around with you everywhere...
6. The sense of possibility. Even if you're not in education anymore, I think the sense of freedom sticks with you. Unless you're in work, maybe... but yeah. I have so many books about creative writing, and a work-in-progress of 60K words which I'm ready to tackle. BRING IT.
7. In addition to my fear of driving in the dark, I'm also kind of scared of car washes, so I mostly wash the car/s (I'm the family car washer because I'm a golden citizen) by hand. Which is really annoying at any time other than summer. FREEZING COLD WATER. HARSH WINDS. I'm not about that life until the daily temperature is at least 24C.
8. Holidays. We used to go away every year - not out of the UK, don't overestimate my bank account/ability to get in a
(Subtlety is my strong point, don't know if you could tell.)
9. Taking pretty photos for future blog posts. Everything looks so much nicer and more photogenic in summer. I love the top photo, a field of rapeseed, taken last summer. I've been waiting for an excuse to use it in a blog post, and now here we are...
10. I love summery reads and, strangely enough, most of them are released in or around summer... not only that, but during summer I have more time to pick up a book. It's a win/win situation. (Here's my TBR for the next few weeks!)
What do you love about summer?
