Coming Of Summer

It is late April, which is a time of year that I grew up associating with spring. The seasons were then of largely academic concern, growing up as I did in Phoenix. March, April and May were all spring months, with the subsequent three falling in summer, the three after that autumn and the three after that winter. Spending time in Chicago taught me that spring could take longer to come, and being in California taught me that it could come and go faster.

I feel now that summer is fast approaching. It was a while ago already that I smelled a barbecue cooking for the first time in a while. Plenty of cooking happens outdoors around here, but there is a special quality to the smell of true summer barbecuing, or maybe there is something extra-sensory to it. Anyway, that smell was the first sign to me of summer coming, and it was welcome enough, although there is always a bittersweet feeling at best to passing time now.

There have been more signs since. The neighborhood has been more active lately. I am glad for that. My area is tolerably busy much of the time even in what you might call the off-season, but it is downright bustling currently, particularly on the weekends. I do find that rather pleasant, especially as many of those clogging the sidewalks and stores around here are terribly attractive, terribly underdressed women.

The activities that are being presented to me have more and more of an outdoor component to them. We don't live someplace where you have to pass the fall and winter indoors, but there's enough of a chill in the air that people curtail their endeavors outside. Just a couple days ago there was a big bike ride that I passed on, and there are more of those to come, to say nothing of the cookouts, the hikes, the drive-in movies and so forth. I await it all eagerly.