Seriously, though… I Miss Summer!

It’s been a little over a week ago now since the month of December has arrived back on into town.  It’s a month filled with holiday cheer and joy.   It’s a time of year when the movie “Frozen” and its cast of characters pop up on the mind, with Elsa singing “Let It Go” in the background.  You know… Fun stuff!  On the opposite side of that fun, it’s also a month filled with cold, a month into that “glorious” thing of daylight savings (why daylight savings… but why??????), and another month I just long for the good old days of summer.

The days of summer when sunshine is in the sky shining away. And where that sunshine in the sky is somewhat still there at an hour like 7 o’clock at night. When there is still that warmth in the air. Warm air, not hot air because that’s just annoying. I like summer but reasonably weathered summer weather conditions but of course. Not “OMG, TOO HOT” weather, weather. I just want summer back. You know, reasonable stuff.

Here on the East Coast and of course everywhere else as well, around the first weekend of November we all go through that lovely thing of daylight savings. And when I say “lovely”, I mean the opposite of that. I always remember about daylight savings during this time of the year vs. the one in the spring because my Birthday is in the beginning of the month of November.  Which is when the fall time change for daylight savings usually always occurs on.

I love the part that daylight savings is in the winter initially because of how the next day we get that extra hour.  An extra hour to catch up on sleep.  An extra hour to catch up on your reading.  An extra hour to watch a TV Show.  An extra hour to catch up on housework.  An extra hour…. Heck yeah to that, I say!  Although, the huge downside to the extra hour is the fact that the next day and every day after that until the spring it gets darker and darker out earlier every day. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon it’s completely dark out. Ugh. I mean if I can’t swim outside this time of the year, at the very least I could perhaps go for a walk on the boardwalk instead during those late afternoon hours. Sure it’ll be cold and I have to wear a jacket cause “cold”, but I can still see that beautiful ocean with the sunshine glistening on the waves.

Wait, nope. I can’t really even do that at 5 o’clock in the afternoon this time of the year because it’s completely dark outside around those hours now. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon! I mean sure you can still go for that walk on that boardwalk, but who really wants to go for a walk like that in the darkness of night.  And by darkness of night I, of course don’t mean midnight, but you know 5 o’clock in the afternoon! To that I say… Ugh, daylight savings. I am done with you!

This summer I managed to make it to my local pool club almost every day. I only went for a little under an hour on most days I when I made it there. Although, this small period of outdoor time when the sun was shining away in the blue sky with cotton like clouds next to that very sunshine was everything. Heck, I loved swimming so much that even on the days when it wasn’t that lovely nice summer day I still went to the pool. I even swam in it one day when there started to be a slight drizzle out.  A few moments later it was time to get out anyway, but hey I still got that swim in. So ha-ha rain drizzle, not today! By “today”, I mean that day in the summer.

I truly appreciated that weather this summer had to offer on most days. That happiness for those moments in time with the weather being what it was. To be outside without needing that heavy jacket, without needing those gloves, without needing an extra sweater under your jacket because “IT’S TOO COLD FOR JUST A JACKET ALONE…. UGH!”.  In the winter on the East Coast, it’s simply unavoidable to go outdoors without needing that extra layer of outdoor clothing gear to just make it through going outside.  The outdoors during those winter months where you immediately feel that winter chill that follows you as you bravely enter that cold that is now here.

I remember my last few days swimming at the pool this summer. I looked around as I felt that nice cool water and tried to mentally just soak in those moments. This was the first summer in… oh so very long that I made it to do something like as to have a casual swim on most days. It was nice. It was lovely. It was refreshing on those warmer days to jump into that kind of cold. The cold that you at some point get use to and can enjoy. That kind of cold is completely cool and fine by this gal.  The kind of cold that goes away in a few moments. Yes, that kind of cold is fine.

I never heard of “Seasonal Depression” until a few years ago. But I completely get it. I mean when you look out the window and see how dark it is outside around those later afternoon hours in the winter vs. the spring or summer, let’s face it, it’s kind of depressing. It’s not that late but you’re more limited to how much more you can do outside in the late fall and winter months than you are any other time of the year because it gets darker out so much earlier during this this time of the year. In the spring and summer months, you can feel a mental state of joy and positivity, along with that motivation to be more active. In the winter months though, those feelings can be the complete opposite of that. Simply because of things like that time change (ugh…daylight savings!) which makes the sky get darker out earlier, along with just that incredible cold that the winter brings every year.

Sometimes when I see how dark it is outside now around the hours of 5, 6, 7 or 8 o’clock at night I think, “But I was literally swimming outside, or having a nice stroll on the boardwalk at these very hours just a few simple months prior. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!”. Ugh, I’ve gotta say it again guys, I’m sorry but…… Daylight Savings, I do not like you one bit!

This thing of it being darker out so much earlier in the day during these winter months simply because of “Daylight Savings” is…..just…..so…..annoying…..ugh! It just seems mean. I’m sure there’s a logical reason of why this is still necessary, but I don’t care. It’s bad enough the bitter cold comes back around this time of the year, but does it really need to be dark outside in the afternoon too?!?! I mean… you know?

This topic of both “Daylight Savings” and “Seasonal Depression” have been tackled on a few of my favorite Comedy TV gems. I am a TV Nerd, so of course I found a way to slide in the topic of TV with an article about missing the summer. But here I am and managed to find a way to bring up TV in this article.

On the classic perfect show that is Veep on HBO, the topic of getting rid of daylight savings was tried. Jonah, a character who for on most of this series is very much of the butt of all the jokes and is never taken seriously like ever, tries to make a bill to get rid daylight savings and fails.  Jonah is very much a ridiculous character, but I gotta love him for trying this attempt of getting rid of daylight savings.

If you haven’t started watching Veep yet, do now!  It’s perfection!  Julia Louis- Dreyfus along with the rest of this amazingly stellar cast are also perfection!  It’s clear once you start watching this show why it’s won so many awards.  Like I said…. PERFECTION!  The next season coming up is the last and I’m a bit in denial about that cause perfection!  I’m not sure it’s obvious enough, but yeah, I adore this gem.

Then on Comedy Central’s Broad City, Ilana got a case of that Seasonal Depression I was talking about earlier.  Although, in her case she took matters of that depression to a complete extreme by getting some kind of extreme tanning light (that was definitely not safe to use) to just feel that warmth. It was completely and utterly ridiculous, but Ilana is a combination of those things (in all the best and crazy ways, but of course) so it made sense she would take her missing the cold to this kind of extent. Also, anyone else bummed that the next season is the last (starts January 24th)? A little off- topic, but I am!

All in all, I just miss those summer days.  Those days that offer that sunshine that stays up later in the sky up above us.  Those warmer days that let you have the ability to go outside without needing that heavy jacket. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the fall or winter seasons or the change of seasons at all. I just like the spring and summer months more. There’s a feeling of joy, warmth, and happiness that you feel once those months return again that you just don’t feel the rest of the year. Probably because you’ve been through those winter months and can fully appreciate those nicer, warmer days when they do come rolling back into your life once again. So as much as I loathe the concept and need for daylight savings and the bitter cold that the winter can be, it truly does make one realize when those lovelier days return how you should breathe in that fresh air, look up to that blue sky and say, “Man. I’ve missed this.  Thank you for returning back into my life again”.

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