Summer

It's been awhile since the last post, mostly because I've been too busy at the office and haven't had any internet access at home (my wireless stopped working for me entirely a couple months ago, and I still haven't gotten around to calling the property managers to complain). I have almost completely recovered from the Lotion Incident, except for a few scars on my legs that look like mosquito bites. The only reason I even know they're from the allergic reaction is that Denver is freakishly (and awesomely) mosquito-free. It's one of my favorite things about the Mile High City. Sure, if I were to go hang out by a lake or other large pool of stagnant water, I'm sure I'd manage a bite or five - the mosquitoes find me very easily when there are any number of them at all - but in the drier areas of the city, even this year with all the rain we're having, I remain blissfully unbothered.

In the spirit of my mosquito-free summer I thought I'd post a list of my favorite summer things.

1) Long, long hours of daylight. Even when I stay at the office till an unreasonable hour I still have a good shot of getting home before dark. And I actually *want* to get up in the morning.

2) Swimming pools. As a child I spent about 3/4 of my summertime submerged. I even love the smell of chlorine. Unfortunately I don't have regular access to a pool, but I plan to fix this next weekend over the 4th of July holiday. My mission is to find a pool and spend all day alternating between submersion and reading beat-up paperbacks.

3) Outdoor dining/drinking. Growing up in the blistering Texan heat and spending college and my first year after college in the swamplike Southeast, I never really understood the appeal of al fresco dining. Then, a little over four years ago, I moved to California, and eighteen months after that to Colorado. These are places where, once it gets to be June, it's warm during the day and cool at night. Perfect patio weather. No wonder everyone out West is so outdoorsy.

4) Movies. Sometimes, I'll admit, it's a stretch to find something I actually want to pay increasingly absurd amounts of money to watch, but there's nothing like retreating to the dark chill of a movie theatre with a bag of candy and a soda on a summer weekend. I've already been to the movies more this summer than I probably went in the previous nine months. Next big thing: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have been waiting for this movie forEVER, and I don't think it will disappoint. And I may even pay to see it more than once in the theatre, despite the $10.25 for a matinee price gouging.

5) Frozen treats. I often lament the general lack of ice cream parlors in my neighborhood, though there's a new one not too far away I've been meaning to try. Still, I'm jealous of my more settled Highlands-resident friends, who have access not only to the Sonic on Sheridan by Sloan's Lake but also the Dairy Queen. There are days when I'd kill for a blizzard. In the meantime I make do by buying and devouring loads of popsicles. Ahhhhh.

6) Summer clothes. Sandals are my favorite variety of shoe, chiefly because it's almost like not wearing shoes at all, which would be my preferred way to go around. I'm also not really a fan of sleeves, so I look forward with glee to tank top season (this is a bonus of working in a casual nonprofit environment). And long floaty dresses can be fancy or casual depending on what you pair with them, which takes a lot of guesswork out of getting dressed.

7) Baseball games. I'm not even much of a fan of the sport, but there's something about sitting down in the stadium (particularly Coors Field, which is right downtown and has lots of cheap seats, expensive microbrews, and a stunning view of the mountains and the Denver skyline if you sit in the Rockpile) with a bunch of people and watching the sun set and the huge lights come on. My attention drifts, but even so I don't miss much, since baseball is so slow.

8) Barbecues. They're like instant festivity. And it seems like half the people I know are always having some kind of cook-out replete with grilled meat, vegetables, and cold beer. Colorado's no Texas when it comes to grilling, but the weather's nicer (see #3).

9) Getting tan. I'm feeling particularly fond of the old-fashioned dangerous method of tanning after the Lotion Incident (and who can blame me?). I don't intentionally tan most of the time; I just walk around in the bright sun and don't wear much sunscreen. Sure, I'll probably be visiting the dermatologist in the next few years to check out all these moles I've acquired living in California and Colorado, but for the most part I tan as easily as one would expect with my Native American heritage, and I only burn if I'm at the beach or pool for hours on end. Not to mention my fat looks so much less hideous when it's brown.

10) The general air of vacation that settles on everyone. No matter how old we get or how busy our summers are (and mine are pretty busy, since the summer is our crazy season), everyone's just a little happier this time of year. We all feel a bit as if school has let out, and as if we're all just a step away from going on an exotic holiday.

And now that I've rambled on about the wonders of summer, I'd better get back to work. That's right. I'm at my desk right now catching up on everything I missed this past week, when I was out sick (in a most un-summerlike fashion) for two and a half days.

Nothing's perfect!