My Big Summer Plans

I had big plans for the summer. After teaching for twenty-five years, I got into the habit of packing everything possible into a few short months. I'm retired now, but I still want to do as much as possible while I don't have to wear a coat and gloves.  I wanted to go on exciting day trips plus visit both of my sisters. I was going to get back to sketching at least once a week. I intended to lay on a blanket on the beach. I planned to read twenty books. My garden needed a makeover and I was determined to make it beautiful. I was going to crochet several prayer shawls.

Oh, and I was going to finish the book I'm writing.

Then the heat and humidity invaded New Jersey. It was unbearable. New Jersey felt like Florida. I can't stand heat or humidity. The mosquitoes love heat and humidity. They turned out to be more vicious than usual. If I stepped outside for five minutes without insect repellent, a horde of mosquitoes feasted on me.

While it is true I may have overplanned, I did accomplish a few of my goals but not all. I visited one sister. I read a couple books. We went on several jolly day trips with Daughter #2. I crocheted several shawls, but I made very little progress on the garden. I went to the beach once but it was like an oven so I didn't stay long.

I realized I was killing too many people in my novel and went to a brainstorming session to decide what to do. I got plenty of suggestions and now I am still fixing that book. That's progress of a sort. Besides, it was cool inside the house with the air conditioning running.

I think I put too much pressure on myself and on the season. Summer is simply too short and my expectations are unrealistic, but the cooler days of autumn have arrived and the mosquitoes will soon depart. Maybe I'll get to do a little gardening before it snows. 😆