rhythms for a summer well spent.

Tomorrow is June 1, our a/c has been blasting all week, and the local waterways have incrementally started warming up. I’m getting excited to switch into summer mode. Summer is such a precious and fleeting season. I feel like it is all too easy to let it pass by in a whirlwind of busy schedules and commitments, without making time for any of the actual summer magic - the bike rides, the popsicles, the lazy afternoons spent in the sunshine or the lingering summer evenings gathered around a table after the sun sets. As I wrote at the start of last summer:

I recently heard a snippet of an interview where Michelle Obama spoke about measuring her life through the possibility of having 25 summers left: “with 25 more summers, I wanna feel each one of them.” I love that sentiment, of making every summer count and to really feel each season pass slowly by. I want to make this summer, and hopefully the next one and the ones after that, count.

If you also want to really feel this summer pass, take a little time now at the start of the summer to plan the season the way you actually want to spend it. I recommend making a note in your phone (paper is ok too!), and title it something inspiring for you to revisit and add to throughout the season. You could call it your summer list, a summer well spent, a hyggelig summer, or anything else.

Spend half an hour getting excited about the summer you want to have. Page through your cookbooks for any summer-y recipes you want to try. Look through your own photo library from summers past for memories that have stuck with you that you’d like to make time for. Browse your bookshelf for any summery reads. Most of all, just give your own beautiful brain a few quiet minutes to think through what meals, activities and rhythms you’d like to make time for this summer. Jot a few things down in your summer note and add to it throughout the summer.

Here are a few of my ideas for rhythms to make time for this summer. These aren’t bucket list items to check off once, but simple activities to add to your daily/weekly/monthly routine over the next few months that bit by bit add up to the slow summer days we all dream of.

Weekly visits to the ice cream shop - An oldie but a goodie! What was more precious as a kid than a visit to the ice cream shop for a cold scoop on a hot day? It feels like being on vacation, but you don’t have to relegate an ice cream shop visit to a special vacation activity. Make it a part of your regular summer routine. There are only 13 weeks in a season - maybe this is the summer where you grab a cone each and every Tuesday night after dinner?

Morning walks to see the season slowly pass in your neighborhood - There is no easier or more rewarding seasonal routine to add to your days than regular walks. A simple walk around the block will plant you firmly in the exact micro-season we are in - seeing what is blooming, how trees are progressing, what birds and animals are hanging out. With hot summer days, mornings are a magical time to spend outside (especially if you will be cooped up indoors for 8 hours at work). Add a ten minute walk to your summer mornings, admire the flowers and listen to the bird song.

Breakfast outside - In that same vein, make a commitment to eat breakfast outside whenever you can. Perhaps that is during the weekend at a restaurant patio or bringing a bowl of yogurt and granola to your front step every weekday morning. Even if it is just taking a few sips of coffee with the morning sun on your face, it’s worth stepping outside.

Reading outside on a weeknight - A free summer activity that is the perfect way to unwind and feel a summer evening pass slowly. When was the last time you brought a book to the park? Set up a standing date with a friend for Wednesday reading sessions at your local green space.

Making popsicles - Is this the summer you get really into making homemade popsicles? Maybe you make a weekly batch of seasonal pops? Or seek out a recipe with seasonal fruit each month? I picked up some nostalgic secondhand popsicle molds on Poshmark last summer and trying out different popsicle recipes is top of my own list this summer!

Biking your city or town - Bike rides were a regular part of my summer days growing up - biking to a friends house, to the local playground, or on the most adventurous days to the next town over for ice cream. If you, like me, have stopped biking as an adult, consider adding bike rides to your regular routine this summer. Pull out your bike from storage or chase down the cheapest secondhand one you can find for a summer of bike rides. Soak up feeling the breeze on your face on a hot summer day, getting to your local beach and not spending a single minute parking your car, or slowly pedaling and chatting alongside a friend like you are 12 years old again.

Host a seasonal dinner each month - Hosting always falls to the bottom of the to do list during a busy season but nothing feels more like embracing summer than lingering over a delicious seasonal spread with friends or loved ones! Summer makes it easy: throw a bunch of great produce in a bowl, throw something easy on the grill, pour a cold drink and you have a perfect summer meal. If you want to have a summer you remember fondly, you have to make time for hanging out with the people you love.

Pick up a weekly bouquet of summer flowers - This can be a pricier summer rhythm to establish but any time that you can manage it adding a mason jar of blooms to your living space is such a seasonal delight. I love to get sunflowers whenever I see them - they feel like summer in a jar! Tiny farmers market bouquets are also so lovely.

Snack on a bowl of fruit at every opportunity - Challenge yourself to buy a different seasonal fruit each week and snack your way through the season! A little bowl of cut up in-season fruit is the perfect summer snack. Not to mention, making an effort to embrace summer fruit season means you won’t let peaches accidentally pass you by entirely this year.

Play cards, boardgames or anything analog - Don’t let your summer evenings pass you by in a haze of tv shows! There are so many good television shows in our modern era but summer is not the time for them. Pick your own favorite analog activity (we love Kings in the Corner at our house!) and make time for it this season. Less screen time and more quality time this summer. In my humble opinion, we should all play cards on an improvised surface at least once this summer.

Seasonal pizza nights - I try to have pizza on Friday nights as often as I can and summer is a great time to settle into a weekly pizza rhythm! Try to come up with a new seasonal pizza each week or stick to a favorite recipe or two. Here a few ideas for particular delightful summer topping combinations:

• ribbons of zucchini or other summer squash, corn, halved cherry tomatoes

• margherita with fresh-picked basil

• corn and thinly sliced jalapenos with a sprinkle of cilantro leaves post-bake

Schedule a camping weekend every summer month - A single night in a tent can feel like summer incarnate! Gathering around the bonfire, stargazing before bed, and waking up to pancakes and a cup of coffee in camp… I’ve waxed poetic about the magic of camping once or twice here on seasonal things and I’m afraid I just might keep doing it! Camping is at the very top of my own summer priorities.

Will you be adding any of these summer rhythms to your routine this year? Make your own note for this summer and write down 3-4 of these rhythms (or your own!) that you want to prioritize over the next three months. If your summer inspiration is flowing, you can also add a few other sections to your note - any movies you want to watch this summer, recipes you want on repeat or that you’d like to try, summery books at the top of your TBR or your own sunrise/sunset/water challenge (see screenshot at the top of this post).

I’m also going to be sharing summer bucket list ideas soon here on seasonal things. Unlike these rhythms that I want to regularly incorporate into my summer days, my very short summer bucket list is a place for those memorable activities that I want to make time for at least once this summer (here I come drive-in movie!)

Cheers to a slow summer well spent!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also enjoy:

• making a summer well spent.

• finding hygge in the summertime.

• summer reading: books for sweltering days and long evenings.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like more nudges to live seasonally, please subscribe to seasonal things.

seasonal things. is where I send out weekly notes about how to make the most of each season. From nudges to savor the season we are in to favorite seasonal books to inspiration for eating seasonally, all the posts I share are simple, accessible ways to embrace the time of year we find ourselves in. Paying attention to the subtle shifts outside and changing my meals and music and books along with the time of year has brought joy and calm to my life. I hope these short weekly notes bring a dose of seasonal joy and calm to you. Thanks so much for reading!