SIMPLE SUMMER
by Claire O’Neil
Summer ever beckons with the freedom of possibilities that long sunny days foster. It’s a perfect time to cultivate the art of treating ourselves to simple pleasures.
W
hy? Author Neil Pasricha observes, “I like to stop and remember sometimes that
we’ll never be as young as we are right now. We only get 100 years or so to enjoy interior design, books, buffets and radio waves, clean sheets and good movie seats, bakery air, rain hair, bubble wrap and illegal naps.” The Toronto-based creator of the international bestseller, The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things, is on such a roll that he keeps adding to the list at
1000AwesomeThings.com. All it takes to travel this pleasur- able path is a little attitude adjustment and awareness, agrees Victoria Moran, author of Creating a Charmed Life. She
20 South Central PA
suggests we continually ask, “What simple thing can I do today that will make it an amazing day?”
What follows is not exactly a buck- et list, but more like a summer “sand pail”, sparked by Natural Awakenings publishers and contributors around the country. Taking cues from summers past and present, they are happy to of- fer a springboard to enjoyment.
Acting Like a Kid Again Just the thought of summer days to come brings back memories of free time, family vacations and outdoor fun. Whether we go swimming, sip real lemonade on the porch or catch and release fireflies with our kids or grand- kids, we love renewing that “in the moment” feeling for ourselves.
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PLEASURES Sweet, Easy, Perfect
“I love hanging out with 3-year- olds,” says Pasricha, “because they’re still seeing the world for the first time. Every moment is right now.” If you’re having trouble reaching your inner child, “Think of how you were when you were 10 years old,” suggests Joy Behar, comedian and co- host of The View. “What did you like to do then?” Sometimes revisiting a child- hood pleasure or two can provide the missing link to fresh summer fun. Here are some likely candidates. Retro sweets. “Every time I heard the tinkling bell of the ice cream truck, I would run out on bare feet for a treat, stubbing my big toe more times than I want to remember,” recalls Las Vegas Publisher Mary Ruetten of childhood summers in Southern California. Today, fresh fruit does the trick for her. A dip in the ol’ swimming hole. Reid Boyer, who publishes in Pennsylva- nia’s Lehigh Valley, observes, “Anyone that has experienced high summer heat knows the relief of a good, cool swim- ming hole. I still remember when my 4-year-old son and I packed up the pick- up truck, drove to the community beach at the local lake and set up our picnic lunch, beach chairs and toys. We must have jumped off the end of that pier 100 times each, doing silly jumps and egging each other on to top the last pratfall. We laughed until our bellies hurt.” Bike riding and kite flying. “My all-time favorite summertime treat is bike riding,” says Tina Woods, Natural Awakenings’ New York City publisher. “Being free and blowing in the wind is sheer exuberance. Flying a kite feels like that too, and anytime I pass a kite off to someone else a huge smile breaks out across their face. It’s beautiful to see!” Horseback riding. Amy Hass, a longtime publisher in West Michigan, notes, “My fondest summer pastime as a girl was spending every daylight hour with my horse. I would get to the barn early in the morning when there was still dew on the ground and spend all day cleaning up the stalls and barn, groom- ing my horse and then taking her out on country trails or maybe along the train tracks, or else practicing in the ring for our next show. She loved cooling off by going for a swim in Lake Michigan.” Superheroics. Why not, asks
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