Summer Wasn't Canceled

One of nature's creatures enjoying the wonders of summer.

“Summer is canceled,” the headline said. The article mentioned festivals and events, large and small, that would be called off for at least a year because of COVID-19. The tone of the article was gloomy, evoking disappointment, fear of boredom and a feeling of deprivation.

Canceled? Really? Summer in my yard began with rhubarb, followed by lilacs and then irises. The birds sing from morning until night. The frogs pick up the chorus at dusk. The seeds I planted have sprouted, and there are flowers to be followed by vegetables. The sun rises and sets every day, and the moon continues through its predictable phases. 

In the evenings, I see kids riding their bikes and families out for a stroll. On my walks, I sometimes hear a sound I call “thwack,” the sound of a dad playing catch with his child, a memory of my father and me in summers long ago. My 46-year-old daughter told her husband she was going to order a new swimsuit. Since they don’t have a pool and their family’s summer trip was canceled, he asked why she needed a new swimsuit. “I might run through the sprinkler," she told him.

Some have called it “the summer that wasn’t.” Maybe it’s something we can still depend on if we look not at our nearly empty calendar but to the work of our Creator and the blessings of staying closer to home.

Marge Lundeen, OblSB