My absolute favorite time of the year is summer time. I have so many friends that seem like they have a whole new personality when summer is approaching. Like my friends, I love getting out as soon as the weather turns warm, whether that means meeting my friends after work on a restaurant patio, or having them over for a backyard bar-b-que, or going for bike rides and hikes in the sunny weather.
Someone recently asked me what my top three summer time things are. I had no trouble thinking of three things right off the bat. But then again, I had no trouble adding 25 more things to that list. My original list was no longer my ‘top’ three. So I decided that after thinking harder about the best summer things for me were, I would share them so you might play this fun game and think of your top three.
After a week I was able come up with a top three list. My top three would be 1. cooking on my Big Green Egg BBQ, 2. spending time on my Seadoo, and 3. gardening. I tried to pick three diverse activities that in total would really capture my love of summer time. There are other things I love about summer but these are my favorite activities.
I love to cook and consider cooking to be a hobby. I didn’t really love to BBQ until approximately 5 years ago when we started to BBQ on a Big Green Egg. The BGE is a charcoal smoker BBQ based an ancient Japanese method of cooking. The BGE is a large ceramic BBQ that has a huge range of temperatures and great temperature control. It can quickly cook the perfect steak at 700 degrees or slow roast ribs at 200 degrees all afternoon. A summer time BBQ is much more fun if you have a Big Green Egg.
My next top three item is being out on the lake at our cottage on my seadoo. I’ve always loved the water growing up, and I tended to be out on the water anytime I had the chance. But now that I’ve grown up, bought my own cottage, and bought my partner and I each a seadoo, that is where I spend most of my cottage days. From the time I haul them to the cottage and take off the sea-doo covers, to the time they are packed up and taken home for storage, they are barely given a rest.
I love growing things and I love flowers. The time I spend in my garden just flies by. I get excited about new plants popping their heads through the soil. Over the years I have tried to plant perennials that will bloom at different points during the summer. The timing of the different flowers is not yet perfect but it is a work in progress. I add some annuals every year to brighten the colour and every fall I add some spring time bulbs to the mix.
I pondered my list of the top three things I love about summer time for a while. However, once the list was finalized I was certain that it encapsulated perfectly my love of summer. It includes three different activities that collectively mean summer time to me. So whether I have a spatula in my hand or I am pulling off Seadoo covers, or I am holding a garden spade, I am bound to have a smile on my face.
