As we turn the calendar to September, I find myself reflecting on just how I spent time this summer. There is something different about time in the summer. Life slows a bit. More books are read, and more connections are made as well as renewed. So, what is it about time in the summer that makes it different?
For me, while growing up, the summer always meant fewer obligations. In my youth, I fully engaged in school activities and enjoyed them. But, summer meant more time at the community pool and a family vacation of some sort. That pattern, long ago left behind, still shapes the way I think about how I’d like to use time in the summer.
This summer, there was more time at the pool, more boating, more time with our dog, more books read and more photographic explorations than in the months prior. We took in a jazz festival with friends and watched movies (ok, even binged watched an Amazon Prime video series or two). You do things differently with the time you have in summer, at least I do.
When an opportunity came to connect with friends we’ve had for over three decades that just happened to be gathering for a summer visit at a home about 8 miles up the Potomac River from the Chesapeake Bay, we chose to travel by boat for 60 miles rather than roads that would have gotten us there in half the time, just because we wanted to enjoy a cruise. And, after six hours of cruising, we welcomed the company of our friends on the boat for a tour of, for us, new marinas and areas on the water to explore. It was summer. We had the time. We took the time. And, just simply enjoyed relaxing and fulfilling moments in the company of friends.
So, summer brought all this and then something more as the season’s close approached and time was consumed reflecting on lives well lived.
First, one dear friend – one we visited during our trip up the Potomac – lost her courageous battle with cancer. During our visit, we had time together that we will always cherish.
Then, in recent days, like millions of others, I watched the incredible celebrations of lives well lived during services for Aretha Franklin and Senator John McCain. The tributes were well deserved and gut-wrenching as these were people, like our dear friend, whom I had admired for decades.
Thus, this summer season ends with time taken for reflection on people who lived rich and fulfilling lives that made a difference in so many ways to so many people. Perhaps this kind of time, the time spent in reflection, is really the most important summer time.
Craig Fuller served four years in the White House as assistant to President Reagan for Cabinet Affairs, followed by four years as chief of staff to Vice President George H.W. Bush. Having been engaged in five presidential campaigns and run public affairs firms and associations in Washington, D.C., he now resides on the Eastern Shore with his wife Karen.u
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