There is something that makes everything right in summer

Summer is here in full force — hooray! No homework to nag kids about, lots of sunshine, the splashing and cries of children swimming in pools, birds warbling, picnics in parks and canyons, roasting marshmallows, outdoor tennis — all of it good.

Of course there are bees stinging and mosquitoes biting as well as hot steering wheels, but the other joys of summer seem worth it.

Thinking about summer, it's easy to picture lounging on a beach or sipping cold drinks on the patio while the birds sing and the grandchildren play. The truth of it is, the kids do play, but for grownups, getting ready to enjoy summer and then keeping ahead of Mother Nature is actually a lot of work.

Well, it's either a lot of work or you pay someone else to do a lot of work for you.

Our cul de sac has the only three guys in the neighborhood who mow their own lawns, something most self-respecting teenagers wouldn't be caught dead doing any more. How times have changed.

Besides the yard, Grit has his garden, so he keeps busy. There can be satisfaction and sense of accomplishment in work.

First, there's the clipping and the raking up and a trip to the dump if things overflow the recycling can. Next, the planning and planting then dragging out and renewing the outdoor furniture so we can sit and admire our efforts.

Russel Baker, the Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote "Growing Up", got it right when he said, "Ah summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."

I've complained about my roses in a previous column. They must have heard me as most of them were victims of the Thanksgiving warm up and freeze. I really miss their color and the fragrance they gave off, and I am actually hoping the brave shoots that have come up will lead to their return. I am ready to endure their thorns.

Something to be aware of while we are out enjoying the sun is that Salt Lake City rates No. 4 in a "Newsweek" list of America's sunburn capitals. The three ahead of Salt Lake City are Boise, Idaho; Amarillo, Texas and Bakersfield, Calif. Surprisingly Phoenix, Ariz., was listed No. 8. What that should mean is — good news we get lots of vitamin D, but we really should slather on the sunscreen when we are out, especially in the mountains as the air is even thinner there.

That means in the winter, too. I got the worst sunburn I have ever had skiing one year in Park City; looked like rare steak. I gratefully wore goggles, but my forehead still hurts when I think of it as that was the part that got burned the worst.

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit," said writer Ada Louise Huxtable. "A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world."

"Jeweled balm for the battered spirit… belief that all's right with the world." To that add luscious grilling smells and twilight.

Here's a thought: too bad fireflies only come with humidity.

Add them, and Utah nights could be even more perfect than they are.

Email: sasyoung2@aol.com