Living on the East Coast there is something vital about adapting to the seasons and letting them into your very fiber: we herald July as the perfect month here in New England. The temperature is temperate, the rain only intermittent, the vegetable gardens bear gifts, the flowers transform our landscape to an Impressionist’s canvas, you know, the living is easy. And easy breeds easy… Oh, how we love easy!

Creemee stands are inviting as are the wine tastings and barbeque invitations. Early morning walks and late afternoon kayak runs bookend the long days.  The rivers and lakes with their cooling waters pull us back for one more dive, one more float. And the grill? Yes, outdoor cooking does nothing except bring us back for another delicious plateful. Fireflies darting just above the backfield call us out into the twilight and say, don’t sleep yet, come play!

Occasionally, as I drift further into the ease of July I think of what comes next on the seasonal trail…Yes, yes, my pretty ones, that time to remember stiff shoes, life beyond flip-flops. Time to remember button-down shirts and button-up skirts, buttons even, as we flit about in one sundress or another for endless hot afternoons. Time to remember Monsieur Time, for that too went out the window as we left it open for a stream of mountain air to ripple through our bedrooms during the short dark hours. Oh yes, time to awake with the alarm clock minus the snooze button…

Perhaps it is time to snap out of all this easy living before August arrives? Or perhaps I’ll let Madame Autumn herself bring me back to my sensible senses and tight footwear and proper clothing and crazy schedule and diet plan and exercise regime. After all, the short-lived summer fun will all come to an end on its own, right? Guess I’ll play a tad longer…and dance in the fading light… and encourage you all to do the same. There is plenty of time to do whatever needs to be done, later!