what is summer?

The idea of summer. Like, I mean all those weird quotes about: “make this the best one” or 30 things to do this summer (like who actually does those) or the magazines that are like, do this with your girls and go camping and shit. Am I the only one whose summer is not like this? I don’t fish, hunt, tan, have friends close enough (geographically wise) to go to the beach with every night, summer is literally the school year minus classes.

Everybody seems to love summer, especially summer in a small town. Let me paint this exquisite picture in your mind: Sunsets, camping, trails, and beaches, that small town grocery store, smiling at everyone downtown, wonderful images. Yet, when I arrived for summer my thoughts were not camping (we all know my allergies permit very limited outdoor interaction, poor Chrisinda), not sunsets, or trails. Beaches: hells to the yes. Grocery store a stone’s throw away: yes please. Food cooked by my papa: AWESOME. Our one screen movie theatre: da bomb. When I came home for the summer, my beautiful four month summer, I was so excited. THEN I remembered my friends both live 45mins away, so hang out time is limited and we work (stupid adult life, when did you happen). And lapsing back into doing literally everything with my mom. I go to the store with my mom, I watch Desperate Housewives with my mom, I workout with my mom, I run with my mom, I go for walks with my mom. Literally we do everything together, like Lorelei and Rory Gilmore’s disturbingly close relationship….enough said.

Then I think back to what was my regular life for 8 months, away from home, from parents, from my very close grocery store, and home rink in the big ol’ city of Ottawa and my life as an independent woman. I think back to busses, 6am mornings, and living beside my best buddy (shout out to lilydales) watching movies, causing shenanigans, following the poor dear around for some social interaction, and Starbucks. Yes, I didn’t think I would miss the city or living on residence, I mean I miss that my allergies were way better there and I miss my roommate and I miss my the breakfast club I really do, but I don’t miss buying my own groceries, or dealing with annoying floor sounds or weird boys playing music outside my window, which brings me to my current life and first summer home from uni.

Fastforward to life in BR, my first summer back from uni: I wake up, go to work (with my mom), I come home (with my mom), and I go running (surprisingly by myself), and then I watch TV (surprise, surprise with my momma). I literally have one of the most boring lives in the universe. Which is fine, I mean yes I don’t have the chance to methodically barge into my suitemates room or eat quiznos at 12am and my Instagram is sadly lacking in the typical hometown pictures. But, it’s weird though, because while most people spend weekends on the lake and drink beer with friends, I am that kid hanging out with her mom, drinking pepsi floats, zagging while the rest of the world zigs. Summer, never a season where I did much, accept work and chill around eating ice cream and binge watching seasons and reading books. But then again summer is all about not doing much, so why are magazines telling you 30 things to do this summer, assuming you have money and an ice tea maker that stuff is pretty unattainable. I am not the typical summer gal. I have read 6 books since May (haters gonna hate), watched two seasons of the unit, two seasons of Desperate Housewives, and discovered various amazing drinks with my mom’s Vitamix (this is Starbucks quality guys) and started painting again (YAY). Your summer doesn’t have to be what everyone else’s is, because it’s your summer.

found on google