We have a vocabulary for the easy season.
With the solstice, we slip into summer speak, like saying, “yes, please,” to the offer of a cold glass, sweating on a hot afternoon.
Summer’s lexicon of languor has an optimistic tone, borne of school-free days and chill-free nights. Nat King Cole gave us “days of sodas and pretzels and beer,” even as he suffered days of racial hate.
This particular season’s words taste bitterer than dandelion greens: choke, tase, spike, peak. And our postcards are placards about realities that are no vacation.
There is hope that summer’s long days might shine light on wounds that need to heal, mending the rifts in our human family, even as the pandemic postpones potluck reunions with kin.
Talk, even small talk, helps, especially if it’s porch to porch, across sidewalks, beyond borders.
Have a seat. Let’s chat a bit, allowing our conversation to lilt light as the welcome breeze our grandmothers encouraged with hand-held fans. Let’s pass the time while curtains soften the intense heat of the day and ice cubes and horseshoes clink their own idle harmony.
Words of our season in common:
Seersucker
Gingham
Sprinkler
Lawn
Berries, shortcake
Peach, pie
Linen
White
Itch, scratch
Egg, sidewalk
Bare (feet, shoulders, floors)
Lazy, hazy
Hammock
Calamine
Citronella
Watermelon
Wicker
Mower
Marshmallow
Hotdog
Fair
Queen Anne’s lace
Belly smacker
Cannonball
Horseshoes
Sand
Hollyhock
Clover
Skeeters, buzz
Crickets, chirp
Charcoal
Cookout
Rose, Rosé
Shade, shades
Bermuda shorts
Flip-flops
Rash
Grass
Burn, blister, bite, Band-aid
Dew
Lemonade
Iced
Cottage
Raft
Postcard
Popsicle
Picnic
Cooler
Beer
Baked beans
Oscillating
SPF, AC, BLT, BBQ, RV, RBI
Porch
Screen
Scorcher
Swing
Heat lightning
Potato salad
Patio
Parade
Firecrackers, fireworks, flags
Tomato
Tonic
Collins
Sundae
S’more
Ice cream social
Keds
Sundress
Madras
Canoe
Campfire
Sparkler
Beach
Clambake
Adirondack
Archery
Bikini
Maillot
Awning
Outboard
Scoop, dip, cone, malted
Convertible
Espadrilles
Canvas
Baseball
High sky
Twinight doubleheader
Drive-in
Hot, humid
Flypaper
Knee-high (by the Fourth of July)
Fish fry
Firefly
Fleeting