Summer Begins

It's really just now hitting me: we're really on summer break. I'm still feeling the pressure of what I need to be doing, where I need to go, who I need to call or email. But really, we're on summer break.

What does that mean, exactly? I still have to cook meals, do dishes, clean house, do laundry, and generally keep the family running smoothly. I still have American Heritage Girls camp to plan, paperwork to complete, planning to do for next year, emails to send out. I still have papers to read and lesson plans to finish for August. I have articles to write, shelves to organize, walls to paint, carpets to deep clean, weeds to pull.

But still. With summer comes this amazing sense of freedom—a lessening of responsibility. Evenings with no place we have to be. After dinner chats on our bench. Hours at the pool with friends. Camping trips and river play in the Smokies.

There was an article in the newspaper last week about adding four weeks onto the school schedule in Tennessee. No, thank you. I'll take summer.

What do summers look like for you?