These long summer days are such a gift. I was outside looking at a bright sky, even after 9 pm last night. The sun had set about 30 minutes earlier and still there was a gentle orange glow where the sky and the mountains met in the west. This morning, it was fully light when the dogs and I went out to walk at 6:30 am. I am amazed when I realize how much daylight we get here in the longest days of summer. The fullness of the foliage on the trees and other growing things all around us here in central PA is striking. Summer is a lovely time of year.
My regular walks with the dogs mean I am outside daily, in every season. Each summer and winter, I am in wonder as I notice the contrasts. We walk the same streets in the barren cold of winter, bundled against the bitter winds, and on hot summer days when we are eager to find shade under the abundant leaves of the neighborhood trees. I marvel at how I can be comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt on long June days while walking the same route where I will be bundled in heavy layers of wool coats come January. The changes season to season simply amaze me.
Each season brings different joys and different challenges. This is true for the all the different seasons of our lives. Just as I can enjoy the warm winds in June, I can find beauty in the bright sun on snow in January. Though I find excitement in juggling the demands at the start of the year in September, I can also find satisfaction in wrapping up everything at the end of the academic year in May. I miss the lively activity of campus in the middle of the semester, yet I appreciate the peace of a quiet campus in the summer months.
I invite you to find what you appreciate, enjoy, grow from, and find rest in during these summer months. Certainly, they may be the opposite of what you find in the midst of the school year. Our lives are filled with varied blessings. May we notice and give thanks for them, no matter what the season.
Peace,