the world opens up in the summer months. lingering heat brings out a collective fever. people space themselves out on the pavement, avoiding crowds unless they’re in front of a stage or on a dance floor.
men sigh with a pent up restlessness. their eyes wander and pass from one thing to the next. there, outside, in front of the window, a dog pees on a fire hydrant like in some corny old movie. there, the blue sky, a tree rooted in the middle of the sidewalk. and over there, a pretty girl waiting at the lights, fanning herself with a flimsy magazine, lips parted and eyes cast down, lids heeavy in the heat.
it’s enough to make a man lean back in his chair and wipe his own sweat from the back of his neck.
children stay cramped inside for far too long, spending too many hours in classrooms, or at home, slumped over in front of a tv. summer is a burst of life – a welcome stretch after those long winter months, and the sleep of the spring that follows.
parents shoo their children outside. “go get dirty and don’t come home until dinner time,” they yell after them. they hope their wards will tire themselves out and come home and drift to sleep, leaving them to wade languidly through the summer heat. peace and quiet in a groggy house. there is always a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. there is the constant hum from the open window – a chatter, and all those passing cars, the sound of people always moving. stillness is for another time.
the air can be muggy, but also sweet, and it isn’t hard for two young strangers – wild and bright-eyed – to find themselves on a beach, under the new evening sky, face to face and falling in love. the sun sets swiftly, but before it goes, it casts that holy golden light, and if anyone could see it – the two of them caught in the glow – they would say it was a moment so impossibly perfect it hurt.
“something to tell the grandkids,” they’d chuckle – and shake their head knowing full well how perfect, youthful love can wither away and die, just like everything else, by the time the fall comes grumbling along.