The calendar may say that we are four days beyond the first day of summer, but for me, the cycle of spring ending and summer beginning coincides with the last day of school and high school graduation.
No matter that this family no longer has children in local schools.
No one left to ride on school buses or whoop it up on the last day, dumping a years worth of notebooks, papers, and pens on the kitchen counter.
No forgotten months old gym socks found at the bottom of a locker smelling up my laundry pile.
Summer means sounds of happy children playing outside, the absence of school buses blocking your path, and the deafening sounds of car horns tooted by teens driving around the neighborhood.
Some mothers I know dreaded summer when the brood was home all day.
I loved it when school got out. It meant not worrying whether anyone was in bed at bedtime [never mind asleep], lazy mornings spent in pajamas, and lunches eaten on the way to the park.
Definition of Summer, to me:
Flowers from outside, inside, contained in vases,
and flowers outside, breathing color and fragrance back into my life.
My girl, dressed to the nines, headed out with 3 summer essentials:
iced coffee.
sunglasses.
flipflops.
[and of course, her phone]
Packing the three boxes for our yearly (tent) camping trip to Acadia National Park
[20 years this year!]
[20 years this year!]
[The egg carton contains homemade fire starters--a mixture of dryer lint and wax :]
Eating outside on the deck, every.single.(non-rainy) night. Without fail.
it means supper cooked over a fire 
accompanied by frozen daiquiris.It means a garage that looks like a college dorm
And schoolboy friends who get together and look and talk and act like men.
Summer is eating ice cream cones outside on a porch, with imaginary bonus points if the sign says "Best Ice Cream in the World"
and dogs whose ears prick up at the mere mention of the word ice cream are ecstatic when a dish of vanilla ice cream is placed in front of them.
Summer means lazy walks down undiscovered roads.
It means gazing at spectacular sunsets...
...and bodies of water until you can't do anything but erase any leftover stress under the relaxing weight.
This summer means saying goodbye to your only son until September
and beginning another round of mailing packages containing biscotti
to a Northern California address this time.
Summer means the always present pile of shoes and boots by the door gradually changes over to sneakers and sandals.
Summer means cool drinks and even cooler iTunes while driving....
and taking advantage of the best deal in town:99 cent extra large iced teas from Mickey D's.
It means desserts like strawberry shortcakes with extra whipped cream [not from a can]
and homemade strawberry rhubarb crumble with vanilla ice cream.
It means the temperature is warm enough to paint and do other repairs.And visits to the beach mean wearing t-shirts and cotton sweaters.
Summer, don't leave too soon.
[morning: the dock at Spec Pond]