by Nancy Casey
If you live in the northern hemisphere, the long passage through fall, winter and spring can make you completely forget the way the summer feels. Then there comes a moment, usually in May or June, when it hits you: Summer! This is the way that summer feels.
Today in your writing, describe a moment when the reality of the summer hits you, when summer stops being an idea and becomes the season you are living in.
As you gather your writing materials and set up your page take note of the season. Draw a line at the top where your title will go and set off some space for illustration. As yourself, Is it summer yet? How can I tell?
For some people, the signal for summer is in the temperature. Whether you like it or not it’s hot out! But with air conditioning, some people experience it as a season of cold.
Sunburn, allergies, bug bites, dehydration, bear attacks–maybe summer feels like a harrowing and dangerous season to you.
A person’s employment picture often changes in summer–new hours, new co-workers, new tasks, a period of unemployment or a brand new job. Summer sometimes makes a person’s job satisfaction rise or fall.
From crickets to songbirds, summer brings a raft of new natural sounds. Open a window and you might hear the sounds of human voices and lawn mowers. The outdoors smells different–and maybe the indoors, too. People-watching might return as a forgotten fascination.
A household might have a new organization for summer, too. Warm clothes and bedding might get packed away. Maybe lawn furniture emerges. Perhaps new cooking habits are in order. Maybe there’s different stuff stacked by the door.
Are there places that you only go in summer? Are you more likely to linger on the street, drive with your windows down, or ride a skateboard? Does summer draw you to mountains, water, sun or shade?
What kind of detail in your inner or outer world announces to you that it is summer?
Today, write about one or more of these signals that summer has come. Begin with an event or a moment. You could start with something like, “When…, it really hit me that summer is here.”Or your first sentence could be something like, “It felt like summer all of a sudden when…”
Let your writing flow with the thoughts that come into your mind as you rifle through your observations and memories of that wow-it’s-summer feeling.
When you stop to think, draw or doodle on the page. Ideas come to some people when they draw. Other people get new ideas while staring into space–or the backs of their eyelids. Do what works best for you.
When the page is full, draw on it a bit if you like. Think up a title and write it at the top of the page. Write the date and a signature on the page also.
Here is an example of what a person could write
You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.
Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. If you would like some help with your writing, or just some encouragement, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 