Heating things up.

Doesn't heat usually make molecules speed up and move around more rapidly?  Why is it then that when the weather turns warm, we slow our movement and become sloth-like and lazy?  Well, I know one thing for sure.  You slow down my body, and my mind instantaneously picks up speed.  So there.  Something does in fact speed up in the heat.  Think about it.  Is that true for you?

 When I say my mind picks up speed, I mean it begins firing off to do lists and family activities and party ideas and home makeover projects and fun places to explore.  I think about picking up new hobbies and making new challenges to hold myself accountable to.  So you see, the heat inspires me?  It is only appropriate that I was born on the summer solstice - the first day of summer, longest day of the year, and sometimes Fathers's Day.  I love heat.  I'll sit in a sauna for 25 minutes in the middle of the day in the heat of summer.  (Right, Kelle?)  I'll wear sweatpants and drink hot coffee while sitting outside on my back lanai.  (ie:  this very moment)  I'll turn on the mattress warmer on my bed or the seat warmer in the car because the air conditioner makes me cold.  Good thing for dual climate zones in cars now.  There's a good 10 degree split between me and the driver....always.  (Right, Brooke?)  So you get it.  Heat slows me down just enough to hear myself think and I LOVE it! 

I love summer so much that last summer I declared that I didn't want it to end.  Now, being raised a Northern girl, I can get excited about the change of seasons--the onset of Fall marked by the chill at a Friday night football game--the Winter's first snow--or Spring's first tulip bud, sometimes popping up under a thin blanket of snow.  In Florida, however, if you blink...you might miss it.  Sometimes the grand moment that marks Fall's entrance is merely the act of switching the AC from on to off.  Bam......now it's Fall.  No matter how grand the change may or may not be, I do usually welcome the new chapter.  But not last summer.  I didn't want the picnics or the fireworks or my husbands relaxed work schedule to end.  And you know what?  I think Mother Nature took me seriously because I found myself wondering just when winter will begin and then I realized it was May.  Ha!  Summer did get extended!  And now, less than a week until summer officially begins again, I can almost say I feel like summer never ended, and couldn't be happier about it! 

So, with my body still and my mind at warp speed, I have a good feeling a lot of good things are a brewin'.  A relaxed body is an able body.  When the moment calls, I'm ready.  I feel loose and limber, warmed up and ready.  Not impatient, no.  I'll enjoy this moment of stretching.  I'll breath in deep and breathe out slow, enjoying the relaxed breathing while I can.  I have a feeling that this summer, unlike last, has a finish line....but I'm ready for it.  I know a finish line can also be the starting block for the next chapter. 

 

“And so 

with the sunshine 

and the great bursts 

of leaves growing

 on the trees, 

just as things 

grow in fast movies, 

I had 

that familiar conviction 

that life was beginning 

over again 

with the summer.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby 

fry day

there's still four more days until summer officially begins, but things around here are not slacking in their sizzle.  i do mean that metaphorically as well as literally.  

we live in florida, and south florida at that- a mere smidge above the steamy swampy everglades.  i'm talking about a land of full body soaking humidity come june and the three months thereafter.  we floridians view it as the comparable alternative to northern winters:  most days are spent inside with windows closed, and we make mad dashes to our cars only to frantically crank the circulation of the preferred temperature from the air vents.  and it's only the applicable state of H2O that has the capability to draw us outside to play.  the simple difference is that we summer floridians can brave our elements without spending a half an hour putting on extra layers of clothes, just extra layers of SPF.  never-the-less, the sizzle of summer has already arrived.  

so in the heat of our current moments, we are flaring up our schedules with the fun that goes hand in hand with summer:  poolside barbecues where the sound of the kids' laughter is most likely heard several blocks away, lazy afternoons at the beach where the biggest decision is whether to leave before or after the sun sets over the gulf waters, post dinner escapades because there's still another few hours until dark, impromptu sleepovers, and the list goes on.  

i am indeed enjoying my summer already.....one sweet sip at a time.  photo by kelle hampton.

 

 

 

 

   

yet, amidst all these festivities, i rarely fail to notice the little things, the little sparks that pull me through these toddler years. i'm talking about the things that i absolutely have to write down because even though at the moment i swear i'll never forget, i know i will.  things like, when coming across a new display of peach and mango lemonade at the grocery store, my three year old son spontaneously lifts his left leg to the side, bends his torso and tucks in his elbows then begins hopping around on his right leg, all the while chanting a celebratory tune.  the resulting performance sent me bursting into laughter because it was most definitely the closest thing to a human counterpart of a peeing dog stance.  i could have very well become completely mortified and obligated to encourage him to tone it down just a little (because let's face it, this is naples), but i chose to relish the moment and i'm so glad i did.  or, like when my dangerously close to being potty trained two year old daughter flashes through the house wearing only a hat and a cape, and my son yells, "super nudie" then joins in.  yea, these are the things i'm talking about.  

but here's the thing that has stuck with me this week above all else.  we are currently in the dirty depths of buying a car and as any well minded consumer does, we have clocked hours researching every possible car that would suit our needs by scouring safety reports and car specs.  and above everything else, this little phrase has stuck to my mind like glue...firstly because i find it hilarious, but secondly because the more i thought about it, it precisely defines a gift that we are given.  

in the chart that lists the convenience items that the car has to offer, the first item listed....i kid you not...was "driver seat included." seriously?  they really had to point that one out?  and, they consider that a convenience?  what are we supposed to do, kneel at the wheel?  or maybe that's the designated commission of the previously mentioned dog pee dance?   

but in a different light, yes, it is a position of distinction that is, in fact a convenience which we all dreamed of when we were kids and had little say in the matter...a full circle from the feeling we had when we were told "no" and we swore we couldn't wait to grow up and be able to do things how we wanted.  being in the driver's seat is not only bestowed to anyone who finds themselves in a parental role, even if it's only to a pet fish, but it's an intangible certificate earned upon turning eighteen.  

you are absolutely, positively, without a doubt in the driver's seat of your life.  a convenience?  yes.  because you no longer have to wait for the permission of someone else in order to live your life.  if there's a job you want, go after it.  pick up the phone.  show up at the office.  give them a firm handshake implying that what you have is what they need.  if there's a beloved relationship on the rocks, be the one to build a bridge to more secure ground.  if you're wandering around in the wilderness waiting for a flashing sign to drop down from the sky telling you the way to guaranteed success, open your eyes and floor it to the nearest open door at top speed, because that flashing sign stuff is back seat thinking, baby.  and just like in vegas, flashing signs appear the brightest at night...in our minds....that's where dreams are formed.  but when the break of day hits, it's up to you to remember the feeling of the glam and put the pedal to the metal because you won't get anywhere unless you start by going somewhere.  that, my friend, is the convenience of having a driver's seat.    

"If everything comes your way, 

you are in the wrong lane." 

~Author Unknown