Heirlooms and Heritage: Summer in Utah-land!

So, its summer here in Utah-land and that means you won't find me here as often for right now! Hopefully you will bear with me and check in from time to time!

Here's how this summer thing works for me now that I live "out west." The second year we lived in Utah it snowed in June. I have trust issues with the weatherman that still have not diminished! While summer has been upon us for a few weeks I have, really, just in the last week, garnered enough courage to truly believe that it is here. No more socks and sweats, no more quilts, and no more cringing from the cold when opening a door to walk outside. Basically, we spend 7 to 8 months in "winter mode." We have not had a good conversation with a neighbor in months, only waving between plumes of snow being ejected from our snow blowers or as we pass in our climate controlled automobiles on the roads in the neighborhood. We have not walked barefoot in the grass or smelled the sweet aroma of fresh cut alfalfa. We've not enjoyed morning coffee on the deck or a steak on the grill since last summer. We've been ready to sleep at 8 pm because it had been dark for hours already.

A good friend told me that when I moved away from the eternal summer of the tropics that I would learn to appreciate the rhythm of the seasons. She was right! It is summer. The snow, that turns to rain as the temperatures warm to spring, is gone. We probably won't see precipitation that actually makes it to the ground again until the first snow in the fall. There is something fun to do every weekend, yards to tend, gardens to harvest, bikes to ride, Zeppes Italian Water Ice to enjoy, and mountains to climb. It is time to dismantle the "Pinterest Fail" Christmas decorations that were hastily tossed into the garage as soon as the ground yielded enough to pry them from their frozen anchor because, well, I need those tomato cages now that the garden is beginning to grow. It is light by 5:30 am and the sun shines until almost 10 pm. The days are long and filled with activity. It is wonderful for now and the last thing I want to do is spend evenings on the computer!

By September we will be exhausted from the long days and oh so ready for fall. Beautiful fall....the first step towards a slow down, preparing for winter, grateful not to have to concern ourselves with feeling guilty for not making the most of every moment of warmth. Yep, we will be ready for winter again, we'll actually welcome it but for today...it's summer in Utah! The temperatures are sizzling, the mountains are green, the grill is heated and I'm gonna go out and walk barefoot in the grass to check out the garden that has awakened from winter under two feet of snow. I'll be here, just not as often!

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..." Ecclesiastes 3:1a

That was then...