Summer is really here now, and I guess it’s time. Everything is still in bloom and beautiful where I am, because of adequate rain and sunshine, but hot and dry may soon appear. What do you do in the summer? My gardening friends are constantly working in their yards, people are going on vacations, to the beach or lake or mountains. It’s a great time to be doing something.

We celebrate the independence of our country from England this month. I have mixed feelings about it because of the people we displaced when we arrived here and since, and the people we enslaved who still struggle with the meaning of freedom for themselves. Our independence certainly wasn’t without high costs in people and resources.

Still, I’m grateful for the freedoms I enjoy and the independence I have to live my life as I want. I am glad that I can write what I feel in this blog and in my book and say what I want without fear of a dire punishment. I can look out my window and see my wild back yard (I am not a gardener, but I’ll take all the fruits and vegetables you’re willing to give me!) and be refreshed by all the green I see, though it isn’t organized in any way. I’d love to hear what you are doing this summer and about your fun vacations.

What is something you remember from the past that stays with you even now when you think of vacations? What about something not so good or fun, but that you survived anyway, and it makes a good story?

How do you feel about summer, all the outdoor activities available, the heat and maybe humidity, and what you do to enjoy it day to day?

Write about your perceived freedoms and what you appreciate about living in a country that offers them. What can you do to make sure those freedoms are extended to all people who live here?