An Arbitrary Reflection From the End of Summer
Today is the first day since summer began that I’ve been able to open my windows and let in the fresh air without unleashing a wave of stifling heat into my apartment. I’m sitting here, looking out through a three-foot pane of glass and praying that the rain stops because I want to give myself a blowout today, and rain and blowouts don’t mix.
The breeze is making me excited for fall, but in a city like Chicago where impending fall means impending winter, and impending winter means weeks on end without seeing the sun, admissions like that are best kept whispered. If today is any indication, fall is indeed inching closer by the day. Really, though, I’m not quite ready yet. I have sundresses I haven’t worn! I’ve only read on my rooftop twice! I have reflecting to do! I need more time!
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Speaking of time.
I found this abandoned blog post intro in my notes app from August 5th at 7:13pm:
How do you capture the essence of summer? In the squeeze of a lime into a plastic cup handed over a sticky bar. In the smell of burnt popcorn wafting across a pool table. In the obnoxious smacking sound your flip flops make as they carry you along the lakefront trail to a picnic blanket where your friends await.
I don't know why or where I wrote this. I can only imagine I was in the throes of some random bout of inspiration when I typed these words. Sometimes one hits and I have no choice but to wax poetic. Sue me!
I wish I could’ve captured this summer in a photograph, somehow. It’s been impossibly boring at times and impossibly busy at others, but it feels like one of the most well-rounded seasons I’ve had in a long time. It’s a blur of lake water and farmers market flowers and limes sucked with a grimace and dog-eared book pages in my mind. I’ll miss it with every fading hour of daylight, and by the time it’s dark out at 4pm, I’ll be relying on memories of it.
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Some memories of note:
I’ve been doing early morning lake dips this summer. Okay, I did two early morning lake dips this summer, but I swear I have plans to do it more often. A lake dip is best taken with a sunny morning walk to your location of choice and a bright pink floaty around your waist. It’s also best taken with a running jump, because the longer you think about the chilly mass of water below you, the more daunting it becomes. And chilly as it may be, I always emerge in some weird rush of euphoria, like I can literally feel the serotonin coursing through my veins. I stroll home with a smile on my face, lake water dripping from my hair, and marks on my shorts that look like I definitely peed my pants, courtesy of my wet bathing suit underneath.
Related to said lake dips is the fact that my sense of spontaneity seems to be growing. I mean, not by much, so don’t get any ideas about asking me to do anything crazy, but I’ll hold my hands up and say that the most loosely-planned moments of my summer have also been some of the best. I see spontaneity like flipping a coin: it can either go well, or it can end in disaster. So far, I’ve managed to avoid the latter (knocking on wood as I type), and thus, I no longer require a full 72 hours of planning to say yes to something. Try me.
Unrelated to both lake dips and spontaneity: I’ve taken to admiring the views from rooftops lately, my own especially. Not that I wasn’t admiring them before, it’s just that I’ve found myself on rooftops more frequently this summer and Chicago looks great from 15 floors up. I like how miniscule the boats seem as they cut through the waves, how the jet skiers could be mistaken for flies skimming across an opalescent surface, how the cars look like their matchbox equivalents zooming around the curves of Lake Shore Drive. Other rooftop setups look like little dollhouse scenes in the distance. Mine has a nearly unobstructed 360° view of the city, so sometimes I’ll go up there to watch the sun set. I bounce over and over from one side to the other in an attempt to simultaneously watch the sun’s descent to the west and its watercolor reflection across the lake to the east.
Also, I decorated my black and white Sambas. What was once a pair of masculine-looking soccer shoes is now a lace-strewn pair with charms dangling across the vamp. I jingle when I walk now. I would highly recommend.
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Lest I bore you with any other flowery depictions of my summer ambling, I will leave you with a rundown of my summer in numbers.
Summer Stats:
2 coastal vacays, 2 trips to Denver
At least 5 lakefront hangs
At least 5 farmers market mornings
2 early morning lake dips
4 crushes
??? tequila sodas
2 firework viewings
1 journal filled
11 books read, 2 in progress
3 ballet classes taken, 1 Latin dance class taken
4 concerts attended
1 karaoke session
And as a coda, something to look forward to.
Fall Bucket List:
Host a dinner party
Go to an apple orchard
Play cards with my friends
Take a weekend trip somewhere scenic
Try Kasama (unrelated to the actual season)
Watch some sports on a patio (no preference on the sports at hand)
Drink a martini while looking chic & without wincing (note to self: load up on olives)
Manifest the perfect pair of Tabi slingbacks
Redecorate my room
Start 20Something again