Summer Days

June's arrived, and summer's in full swing.  That means more time outdoors, and less time blogging!  We're relishing visits from family, our sweet Jem, and the sunshine (maybe with the exception of B.J., who's working hard in the heat even as I type).  I wrote the poem below at the end of last summer - it came to my mind this morning as I wiped up all the grass and water the kids tracked in when I called them in for lunch. (They'd been "swimming" in the backyard and jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler.)

May your summer be full of little tastes of God's goodness!
Here's to summer!

Summer 2015

Here’s to summer days,

To long hours of light,

To moments measured in bare feet

And mosquito bites.

To memorizing John 1

And morning devotions from Proverbs,

To waking up to the sunrise

And the airs of the songbirds. 

To sleeping at Grandma’s

And camping with cousins,

To reading and list’ning

To books by the dozens.

To crafting things out of cardboard,

Paper, and wood,

To playing LEGOs and “house”

Whenever we could.

To cutting the grass—

Our own and the neighbors’—

To hours on the trampoline

And sprinkler capers.

Here’s to piano lessons,

Swim lessons, too,

To water fights in the backyard,

And our little blue pool.

To outings at Lake Loveland

And the museum in Denver,

To our backyard view

Of firework splendor.

To every walk

And every bike ride,

To ice cream cones

And eating outside;

To Saturday grilling,

And Sunday dinners with friends,

To time spent in the garden,

And the meditations Mom penned. 

To having our groceries delivered

And maps at lunch-time,

To tomatoes, green beans,

And sweet corn subline.

To bruised shins

And skinned knees,

To the buzz of ciacdas

High in the trees.

To the gondolas in Telluride,

The pool in Ouray

To the jeep tour in the mountains

And the campsite at Ridgway.

To every cry of irritation

And every squeal of delight.

To the song of the crickets

At the dawn of the night.

To hazy, still mornings

And sultry afternoons,

To jogging together at sunrise –

All over so soon.

Here’s to summer days,

To hours sprinkled with sun,

To moments measured and treasured

And too quickly gone.