The warm weather is finally here. So is the summer beer, the smell of BBQ, the long sunny days and the women in booty shorts. It's the time of year when sitting with a cold by the water is an activity in itself, rather than a means to escape doing an activity. Focus: what are your summer activities? Favorite seasonal recipes, drinks, music? Alt. Focus: What things remind you of summer? Do the leaves change in your area? Do you have kids that are getting ready for the end of school? Take an annual vacation around this time?
Golf, hiking, camping, traveling. Those are my summer mainstays while winter is largely comprised of skiing. This summer will be a bit different as we are beginning our very serious house hunt in preparation for baby-making.
Gardening and fishing are my main summer things. I just bought a canoe earlier this year so I'm hoping to get it out regularly. Gardening is a continual thing and I'm looking forward to having a stupid amount of fresh produce in a couple of months. Planning for my wedding in August has been going well and there isn't a great deal left to do but it will still occupy some of my weekends this year too.
My favorite summer time activity is shooting fireworks off on the 4th of July. Considering I've been in the West for the better part of the last decade that hasn't been an option. I would've loved to shoot stuff off in San Diego and Denver but the fire risk is just so high its never been a temptation for me. Now that I'm in Minnesota, maybe I can head out to North Dakota to light some off and have a dam good time. Other summer activities I like are just chilling with my dad and brother and bullshitting. In San Diego summer isn't a big deal, actually this time of the year can be annoying down there because of May Grey and June Gloom, which sound like cute little phrase but means that the marine layer sets up and doesn't burn off so its cloudy all the time.
I don't camp or hike anywhere near as much as I used to or ski in the winter as much as I'd like to anymore. my summer mainstay is the same as my winter mainstay: cycling. Although, in the winter it does dwindle down to mostly just commuting. Come March/April, the long rides start back up. As far as drinks and food; I'm a big fan of summer beers; the past few years Leinenkugel's summer shandy has been my default summer beer.
My favorite summer activities include: going to the pool, day drinking on a patio, grilling, going to a Rangers game and floating the river. Unfortunately, there are some times during the summer where it's way too hot to do any of that, and we end up at the movies or a mall just to do something in air conditioning. I love summer beer (vodka, Blue Moon and lemonade).
I like those long day drinking afternoons with plenty of cornhole and Caronas. Same with Sunday afternoon baseball games.