I do love summer. It’s such a wonderful, carefree time. Even moreso because I don’t work in the summer. I can stay up late, sleep in. Most days I don’t have anywhere to be at any given time. It’s a great time to accomplish all of those projects I’ve been putting off for months. It’s also perfect for taking a convertible ride to no where, just to feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.

Even though it’s been hot, hot, hot here in the Midwest, I’ve tried to spend as much time outside as possible. A fairly major outdoor project I finished last week was to spruce up an area in our yard that’s been sadly neglected. We call it the ‘park area’ because it has a couple of benches in it. In recent years it’s grown a plethora of wildflowers…okay, weeds…but I wanted to give it a bit more definition and purpose. I added some edging, moved some ground cover around, added fresh ground cover, and created a designated fire pit area. I have to say, I think it turned out nicely!

With my trusty lap top, I’ve also been able to accomplish a lot of writing tasks and still soak up lots of the outdoors. I’ve spent lots of time out on my front porch and the back patio working on revisions and rewrites on a mss. It’s just about ready to go. I have a few more things I need to tweek before sending it back to my editor. Hopefully that will happen this week before I head off on vacation.

Vacations. Another thing I love about summer. Even though it’s my off time, it’s my hubby’s busy time of year, so he doesn’t like to take a lot of time off, but we manage to squeeze in a few little gettaways. This week we head off to Ozark, Missouri for a long weekend with friends. The first weekend in July we’re heading to Pontiac, Illinois with our parents to enjoy some Route 66 nostalgia. At the beginning of August we’ll be in Springfield, Illinois checking out some Abraham Lincoln sites.

Summer nights are the best. The brutal heat of the day has faded, but warmth lingers. My hubby and I spend a lot of time in our front porch rockers listening to music, the buzz of the cicadas, and watching twilight descend on the neighborhood. At some point this summer we’re going to crawl out of our bedroom window and lay on the porch roof to look at the stars.

So how about you? How do you celebrate summer?

And don’t forget, if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered in the drawing to win the final basket for our Summer Solstice Bash. This one has a Western theme and includes a copy of my debut book This Time for Always.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com