Summer Reading & an Announcement

fairy tale or flash backs?

For many people, the phrase “Summer Reading” makes them cringe, hearkens back to that mandatory list passed out during the last month of school. Home work during Summer break? Preposterous? And yet, it happened. Still happens. Heck, I don’t even know if kids GET a Summer break anymore. We had three solid months of it and it never interfered with our learning retention.

But I digress.

At the risk of dating myself here, I never had required Summer reading. If I had, I might feel a bit distrustful of anyone even mentioning it as a way to enjoy the upcoming balmy weeks. While not in school, I read for fun and was never forced to crack open a tome of any kind. I did. Of course I did. But it was because I wanted to and it was my choice of reading.

As an adult the idea of a Summer spent reading sounds like a dream come true. What? Just read for three months? Yes, please! Well, unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that and, the be honest, even if someone said “Here, take three months and do nothing but read” me and my restless self would find something else to do.

Because sitting for three months sounds like torture. Again, I digress. Sorry.

This Summer, I’ve set myself a goal of Twelve Books. I don’t have that dozen mapped out. I learned a long time ago that doing that was a sure-fire way to NOT read them. Something to do with OCD/ADHD and my ridiculous Slytherin fuse that automatically bucks up and says, “Don’t tell me what to do!” even if it’s me that’s doing the telling.

Since there’s approximately fifteen weeks of Summer, twelve books doesn’t sound all that difficult. That’s a book a week with a couple of weeks for catch up (or slacking off).

Now, I know : the calendar says that Summer officially begins on 21 June. And that’s fine. If that’s how you want to roll. But here in the South, Summer begins in May. It’s a weather thing, not a calendar guide. Oddly enough, Fall begins on 21 September but I bump that date up to the first. Fall, however, is the golden season and I want more of it. Even if it’s still 90+ degrees until November.

Fifteen weeks sounds like a solid time to enjoy the dog days. Three and a half months should give one enough time to do just about anything. So come 18 May, I shall officially declare it Summer and do my darndest to enjoy the heat, humidity, mosquitoes, sand gnats, no-see-ums and glaring sunlight until I flip that calendar in a reverent ceremony to The First of September.

That being said, this is my last post on this blog until the first week of September. September the Fourth, if you want to know. I fully intend to read my way through fifteen weeks of the hottest part of the year without feeling that I “should” be posting somewhere. And, to be quite honest, I don’t do well with writing of any kind during the Summer. It’s always been a bit of a breaktime for me in that respect. Instead of fighting it as I have in the past, I give in, turn my attention to other pursuits and let the Writing Muse take a well-deserved holiday.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to read this little blog. Thank you for subscribing and opening the emails. To the very, very few who actually comment, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! We blog to connect with others and even a simple, “Love this!” is enough to make my heart sing!

I’ll be back to posting the first Thursday of September, the 4th, and I anticipate a season’s worth of reading to report back on. Who knows what other kinds of adventures I’ll have? And who knows what adventures await us as the year begins to turn? I have an idea. In fact, I have a very good idea of what’s coming up next in regards to reading, writing and this here blog space.

But for now, I’ll let that simmer on the back burner and let you go frolick in that grand, wide land known as SUMMER. Have a fantastic season! Stay safe if you travel; enjoy your friends and family. Sip Chardonnay at sunset and eat all the watermelon you can hold.

That’s exactly what I’ll be doing! As often as I can.

How about you? Got any plans for the Summer? Do you go on a Summer holiday every year? Staying home? Imbibing by the pool? Love Summer? Hate it? Couldn’t care less? Do you tend to read more or less during the warmer months?

I really do want to know.

Take care and I’ll see y’all on September 04th

XO,
Jen