Summertime...

...and the living is easy, as Gershwin penned for his 1935 work, Porgy and Bess. Indeed, the living has been easy in many ways this summer.

Take, for instance, dressing. Shorts and a shirt for Josiah and David are easy to choose, lay out the night before, and slip on in the morning (especially for David as he continues to work on dressing by himself). A one-piece short outfit for Tobin is as easy as can be. My preferred clothing choice has been capris with a knit top. Easy, easy, easy. No lengthy dressing ritual with numerous layers and bulky sweaters. Just cool simplicity. When the chill of fall begins to be felt, I'll be happy to pull out the sweaters; but for now, I'm enjoying the ease of summer dressing.

Here's another example: eating. In the summer, it's easy to include simple foods such as fresh sliced tomatoes from the garden, fresh corn-on-the-cob, fresh cucumbers sprinkled with salt, fresh diced peaches from the orchard a few hills over. Fresh, simple, healthy, delicious. It must be the easiest season of the year in which to prepare meals.

Here is one of my favorite foods of the summer--Caprese Salad. I first started making this when we lived in Israel and bought fresh produce from the shouk, the outdoor market. It's even nicer to use fresh tomatoes and basil from our garden for this, and I do declare that I could happily eat this salad at least a few times a week all summer long without growing tired of it. As it is, I seize every excuse to make this. Company coming for lunch on Sunday? Let's make Caprese Salad! :)

The recipe is simple:
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/3 c. slivered green olives
1/3 c. chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients, and--presto--a scrumptious summertime salad!
The other easy-as-pie aspect of summer that I've been thinking a lot about recently is the evening entertainment. These summer evenings have been a gift--cool after the day's heat, the light lingers outdoors and so do we. Petting the dogs, playing in the sandbox, pitching baseballs, swinging, eating ice cream, playing badminton, chasing lightning bugs. What could be easier--or more fun?

One evening, in particular, stands out in my memory. This occurred back in June, I think; and for some reason, Jeff was indoors and I had the three boys outside. Tobin and I rocked in my birthday swing, while Josiah and David tried to catch lightning bugs. I started singing old camp songs that I learned around the campfire at Highland Retreat when I was a girl, and gradually Josiah and David drifted closer to listen and we all stayed outside until after dark, enjoying the evening and the extra time spent together. I treasure these days...and these summer evenings.