It's summertime, and the living is easy...

I’m certain I’m committing some kind of blogging sacrilege here by writing this post in longhand to be typed into the computer later. My excuse is that I want to sit outside with my dog, and my laptop screen is difficult to see in sunlight. But the truth is I’m a little tech-ed out. When I saw my laptop this morning, waiting expectantly on the coffee table, I got a little shiver of dread I don’t usually associate with inanimate objects. The past two weeks have been a mad dash to get my website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog up and running, and while my brother has handled the toughest details (Thank you, Phil!!), I am still weary of looking at that horizontal digital screen. Perhaps it’s time for a little old school writing, with classic 8 ½ by 11 lined notebook paper and a Bic pen.

Today, I plan to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather—78 degrees, blue sky with cotton candy clouds, balmy breeze. The birds are twittering in my Rose of Sharon, and the treetops are swaying lazily overhead. My lawn is freshly mown and vibrant green from all that unexpected rain we got last week, and my container garden is flourishing—red, white, and blue petunias that get me in the mood for Fourth of July, planters of purple sage and fuchsia impatiens, and hanging baskets with delicate lantana the color of pink Wedgewood. For privacy, we just decorated our fence with Tiki fringe, which right now is rustling in the wind, taking me away to some tropical paradise where Jimmy Buffett is always playing on the radio and margaritas are always served ice cold with salt on the rim.

People have written songs about days like this. I might just stay out until the sun sets and the temperature dips below 65. The fireflies will alight from the ground, illuminating the trees like stadium flashes. I’ll watch the bats’ erratic flight patterns between the trees, counting on them and the citronella torches to keep the mosquitoes at bay. My husband and I might open that bottle of Italian white we’ve had chilling in the refrigerator and make a toast to summer.

For today, the laptop will remain closed. My next chapter will have to wait until tomorrow. I’m on vacation.