Winter blues are never as tiring and soul-wrenching as they are at the end of February. The sun rarely shows its face, and all of us feel as if we are trapped in an endless pool of grey. It’s ironic that when it’s hot and humid, all we think about is some cold air and the ability to put on a hat and gloves once in a while. But the end of winter drags along for more than several weeks, it seems that half a year has already passed and we are not even into March yet.
“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” (Nat King Cole).
That is the song that does not leave the head for months once you hear it, right? Although repetitive and annoying after the tenth time you listen to it, it is a kind of a mantra that invites summer to come. And what do we all do in the summer? Right, we just like to lay around like a herd of seals who came out from the ocean to warm their fat bellies that store the valuable fat to get them through the winter days.
I have always been fascinated with seals. They are weirdly human-like with their plump bodies and flippers that are more often used as a flopping device for massaging the said plump bodies. There is a hysterical YouTube video in which a seal pats his tummy with the flippers, boasting of all the fat he has. He jiggles like a piece of homemade berry jelly. That animal is glorious.
“Those days of soda and pretzels and beer” (Nat King Cole).
Summer is always treated like a whole year that lasts for three months. It is not a problem to fall in love, get married, and get divorced in one summer. I knew someone with that experience and the person still has mild anxiety when summer rolls around. Yeah, that did not go well. Maybe that is the reason for the endless amount of summer weddings we have? I have always been sorry for the other seasons, they don’t get enough love as summer has got a monopoly on those weddings. It seems like summer has a percentage of rollback from those catering and venue renting checks. Not a bad deal at all. When I have a wedding, there will be an open bar of beer and pretzels, just like Nat King Cole intended.
“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” (Nat King Cole).
I think that good summers have seen their last days in the 90s. Have you seen those movies where kids go camping, roast sausages and marshmallows in the middle of a forest, sing Kumbaya, and of course have some teenage drama? The essence of summer right there. As for me, my times in camp were more like the Addams family kids who were forced to watch Disney movies to become ‘normal.’ Everyone has a different idea of what is normal, right? For what it’s worth, some may even see Disney movies as violent or inappropriate for children. Bambi, for example, stressed me to my core.
“Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer” (Nat King Cole).
The countdown to the summer is something that has always given me hope and a naïve belief that as soon as June 1st rolls around, everything would fall into its place. The house would magically tidy itself, the summer florals would give the air that musky, sweet scent while every neighbor’s dog would come to you to get belly rubs. On June 1st, even microwaved pizza tastes better than on any other day of the year.
Focused on what is yet to come, we may forget about what is going on at the present moment. Maybe it is a good idea to stop being so obsessed with those lazy, hazy, and crazy days of summer and get life together. Instead of wishing for the June 1st that would magically clean your room, maybe staying up a bit later today and for several more days will eliminate some of the February blues. When there is stuff to clean and organize, time usually flies quicker.
“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” (Nat King Cole).
Are summer days really that crazy? For the most part, they are the same as the rest of the year, but the sun makes everything more bearable. Obviously, every season comes with its baggage, remember that friend that got in love, married, and then divorced all in the same summer? That was a fiasco. The story reminded me of the Friends episode when Ross’s new wife ran away from their wedding party. That poor guy, no wonder he had so many attachment issues.
As the summer comes to an end, many look back and cannot understand where the time has gone. It is the same as eating your favorite dish at a favorite restaurant. You long for the waiter to bring you that plate of goodness, you plan to savor every bite, but it all ends quicker than it started. Because of this, I prefer not to have a favorite dish, just to save myself from disappointments of its finishing and me having to desire it again and again and again.
Dogs understand that food is just food, right? Whether it is a piece of dried-out toast bread or a whole steak, my grandmother’s dog used to devour any food that came her way. That lucky dog. Despite her managing to eat anything, grandma has made her steak every single week. At the end of the day, dogs are the most magical creatures on this planet and deserve all the steak they can get. Thinking about steak has made me want to have some this evening. Great job on that.
“You wish that summer could always be here” (Nat King Cole).
There is time for each season. While some may think that summer would run around and solve their problems, a mere change of weather does not change anything. The same way we long for the summer days to come, we wish for some snow once it gets too hot. It is that vicious circle in which any of us has found ourselves. Vicious circle or not, there will always be space for some pretzels and soda. You know, to accompany that steak. Maybe, subconsciously, I am trying to become a seal with all of that food talk. In the summer, I will lie around in the sun, patting my jelly belly with flippers. That is a perfect image to end this talk about those lazy, hazy days.
Work Cited
Nat King Cole. “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer.” Lyrics. Web.