Staying in Summer

Sarah and I sitting with her girls and Jeremy at the Milltop Tavern in St. Augustine to bring in the New Year ...

Floating down a Jamaican river on inner-tubes under a canopy of Tropical rain forest holding hands with my wife ...

Later that same day, strolling the sidewalk of Ocho Rios when a Rastafarian jumps from a bush asking, "Ganja Mon?" ... I say "No Thanks," ... he smiles and immediately asks, "Viagra?" ...

On a cliff above a raging ocean hundreds of feet below, fighting bitter winds, Sarah and I struggle to stand at the Lighthouse on Mizen Head in Ireland ...

Being asked to play a few with the Band in West Port, singing "God Don't Own a Car" and "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road" to the laughing, rousing, crazy patrons of an Irish Pub ...

Shopping at the Grocery in San Salvador, Bahamas after the Food Boat arrives three weeks late before driving the old dusty car back to our private beach made in Heaven ...

Laurel, Sarah's daughter, and I sneaking into the massive salt water swimming pool at night because ... it was there and it was our only chance ...

Enjoying "Irish Kevin's" in Key West as a patron jumps on the stage, mooning the audience forcing Kevin himself to exclaim, "Good God Man! Don't do that in Key West! You'll be on your hands and knees for days!" ...

Beach days with Sarah on Tybee ... a gathering of the "Carnival of Friends" ... the kids meandering in and out ... Sarah's girls constant planning and scheming ... Jasmine growing over the railing of the Beloved Back Deck ...

Now it's Back-To-School time as everyone gets serious again.

The girls are back in school ... the kids are too ...  everyone's growing intense about work ... those who have jobs are bitching and those who don't are wishing ... and to make it all worse Congress is preparing to go back in session.

I'd rather stay in summer where everything's better.

I don't know why vacations have to end ... school starts in early August ... work intensifies ... paces quicken ... anxiety grows ... money runs out ... and Congress goes back in session.

It's been a good year so far.

There's lot of things to be anxious about but I'm not letting them overwhelm me.

As the prophet Jeremiah said, "Harvest has passed, Summer has ended and we are not saved" (8:20).

That just sounds gloomy and bad.

So I'm not going there.

I'm going to stay in summer.