Better (summer) habits + our weekending

One way or another, I've come to believe that I don't enjoy summer all that much. I think it's one tiny part that I'm Minnesotan-born, living in Texas, and multiple parts my attitude about that. I do truly enjoy all that summer is, with it's long days and sunshine and a-bit-more-carefree-feel, even as a working adult. I love the concerts in the park and dining al fresco. I love the trips to the pool. But if I let them, the temperatures can stifle me, making me feel a bit trapped in the A/C.

Learning and growth come from awareness, right?

So I'm looking for the good things, the green in the heat of summer during the growing season. I'm tempted to stay inside on my days off, holed up in the A/C, bemoaning the heat. And I'm sure I'll have days where that's what I do, but here are some alternatives:

• take more walks in the mornings (before peak heat) or afternoons (in peak heat, but right before taking shower)
• bring my water bottle along wherever I go
• notice fluffy clouds
• listen to worship music on walks, listening to worship music while I knit, etc.
• choose to worship while I go about my day
• spend time in the Word on my days off, first thing in the morning
• go to the pool
• venture out for smoothies, or make them at home
• pray to see the beauty in blue skies and the sticky heat and the Texas summer

For those of you that love the heat, what are your favorite ways to find joy in the summer?

At the top of my short list for this summer is a visit to Barton Springs Pool, since we've never officially been to the pool itself, and a water temperature of 68-70 degrees year-round sounds pretty amazing on a really hot day. As of July, we will have lived in Austin for four years, so I think it's time I have a visit.

Today, Nicholas and I got out and about for a bit of a midday date. He needed a haircut, so I went with him to the barber and knit, as is our usual. Then we went shopping for new jeans and a few shirts for him, since there was a sale. I tried on a linen top I didn't buy, and two cotton tanks we did buy. And then we had lunch at Honest Mary's. We ate outside, shared a kombucha, and he told me all about this YouTube channel, which sounds incredibly odd/interesting (he has 8 million subscribers, so apparently a lot of people find it the latter? If I watch some, I'll be sure to report back).

We came home, showered, and promptly took a nap on the couch, followed by some decaf coffee and a little Moonlighter, one of Nicholas' games, where I "manage the shop" and he tackles the monsters and looks for treasure in the dungeons, naturally. ;)

The best summer days are the ones with a mix of inside and out, I think? A mix of big things and little things, sunshine and breezes, but also naps in the A/C, conversation about jobs and life, and also conversations about YouTube channels and other little inconsequential things.

These are the days, because they are the days we have. I want to spend mine, even the hottest ones, acknowledging that every season has good things. So I'll look closer. I'll taste the peaches, hug Nicholas, darken my chaco tanline, drink the kombucha, feel the breeze, see that those clouds are slightly fluffier than yesterday's, and see His goodness in the heat, too.