June = Summer Firsts
I love living in Michigan for it's change in seasons! I like change. I like looking forward to new things. I love the traditions and shake up of routines that a change of season can bring. And I love the change from spring to summer.
As a kid growing up in metro-Detroit, I didn't look forward to summer. I was usually bored, it inevitably got too hot out to ride bikes or play at the local park and we didn't have a pool or a nearby beach. We had the library and the mall and the occasional drive for ice cream, but summers as a kid weren't my favorite time of year.
Fast forward a decade or two and summers are absolutely the best time of year! Living in a beach town on the shores of Lake Michigan has converted me into a summer-lover! I love the inaugural ride on our orange tandem bike; the first ride with our dachshund Max in his basket and watching him run and roll with joy in fresh green grass at the local park. I love the first summer walk on our pier with my husband and seeing our downtown come alive as everyone gets out of their homes. First bonfires, ice cream trips, beach days, music in the park, bbq parties...so many fun, favorite firsts as we start summer.
I flashed back to my childhood earlier this week - we had all the doors and windows open (finally!) and I could smell and hear a nearby lawn being mowed. It was the first of the season. The sound and scent took me right back to being a kid and remembering sitting on our deck eating mini frozen pizzas and smelling the fresh cut lawn and knowing summer was here. I shared this memory with my teenage daughter and she smiled and said that summer to her was not hearing the school buses go by our house everyday, getting the bikes down in our garage, and milkshakes on the front porch.
Some firsts may change - we live in a small town so we bike instead of drive for a lot of our summer activities. But milkshakes on our big front porch, while watching the world go by and smelling fresh cut lawns, is the best.
What are your favorite firsts of summer? Or have you gotten new ideas for traditions to start?
