Everybody’s favorite season will soon be here. For children, summer brings wonderful warm weather and that glorious feeling of freedom from shoes, schedules and the indoors. For all of us adults (even those whose jobs are 9 to 5) weekdays don’t end when summer starts. It is just the time to enjoy once a year pleasures of summer. For some it’s the time to slow down, or if you’re a farmer enjoy the warm summer weather and enjoy how great the crops look. It was just a year ago when just south of us a terrible wind storm and hail went through. As a farmer you have to have faith and pray that it doesn’t happen again.

This week we officially welcomed summer which is the summer solstice is usually between June 20th and the 23rd of June. This year it was on June 20th. We know it is summer because the Earth’s axis tilts toward the sun from June to September and means we have warmer weather and longer days. For people who live in the southern hemisphere especially the other side of the world), they will have colder weather and shorter days. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. This doesn’t mean our day has more than 24 hours in it, we just have more sunlight than any other day. On the first day of summer we get between 15 and 20 hours of sunlight, depending on where you are located in the world. This occasion is also called mid-summer because it is almost in the middle of the growing season.

Last week I was in on a conversation on how busy kids are in the summer. It seems most of their time is too planned, not at all like it was when I was a kid. This week I read how to take advantage of the longer days. The ideas sounded pretty good to me:

* Go outside, take off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot in the grass.

* Buy a bag of balloons and fill them with water and have a water balloon fight.

* Wash your dog in your backyard.

* Put some pop in the ice cube tray and freeze it. When it is hot outside, you have something cool to suck on.

* Hang out in the sun and do nothing. DON’T forget to put on your sunscreen.

* Fix something cool to eat.

ICE CREAM BARS

1/2 cup light corn syrup

4 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 pint ice cream (cut in 6

slices)

In bowl stir corn syrup and peanut butter together; add rice krispies, stir until coated. Press mixture into a 9 x 13 inch greased pan. Put in freezer awhile. Cut cereal mixture into 12 -3″ square bars, lay slice of ice cream between two pieces, cut in half. Wrap each slice in foil and freeze until form. These keep very well. Makes 12 bars.

“Summertime and the living is easy-or should be.”