As silly as it sounds, I kinda forgot that it was summer.

My life is totally different from what had become my normal, and everything feels new and unique and it’s almost as if the common things like weekdays and seasons and holidays faded into the background.

Y’all don’t even know how many times I have to stop and really ponder what month it is before coming up with the correct answer. It’s weird. I guess I give most of the credit of this strangeness to the fact that I work inside now. I’m in a building for nearly twelve hours at a stretch, and that’s just when I’m not home.

I work in two main places in the same building – one doesn’t have any windows and therefore it’s quite easy to seriously not know if it’s December, February, or July. (Okay, writing this makes me realize how weird I am. Maybe this has to do with reading books that take place during different times? Or maybe it’s my epic imagination? Or maybe I’m just really that clueless when it comes to paying attention to what’s going on around me. Do y’all have this problem?) The other setting where I work has big, beautiful, tall windows that wrap around the whole wall and make my life incredible. But, they’re tinted, so once again I kinda forget what season it is as I peer out them.

And then I went back home for a few days. (I’ve gone home for part of the week for the last three weeks to help my family out due to some health things they’ve had going on.) And bam summer was all-compassing and delightful.

Seriously, watermelon was in demand, hay was being baled, I GOT TO CUT GRASS FINALLY (yes, my happiness is complete), and everything was vibrant and beautiful and just like past years.

While I was home I soaked in the summer. I delighted in the normalcy of seasons, and I thought about climbing on the newly-formed haybales because that’s pretty much the best thing ever. (But I refrained, which was probably for the best.)

My sister came over one evening and brought a bundle of fresh produce and cooked us supper. Another sister brought over her new little babe and let me cuddle her. More family members dropped by and we had an impromptu prayer time, then laughed with delight as my little nieces spun themselves silly.

And it finally hit me that summer is really here.

Which…come to think of it, the sauna-like atmosphere of my camper when the AC was broken for several days last week should have done the trick… But, what can I say? Sometimes it takes watermelon to convince me.