The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I don't know Andy Williams.

I only know that he was sadly mistaken when he wrote the lyrics to a song claiming that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

Apparently he knew nothing of summertime in Pennsylvania.

And surely he could not have written those words in good conscience if he had experienced fields winking with lightning bugs.

 Salty lips after eating corn right off the cob.

The agreeable collision between children and wading pools.

Ice cream in a bowl, on a stick, or smothered in sundae syrup, with the only requirement being more.

Foot freedom better known as flip flops.

The smell of rain on a sun-warmed street.

Meadow tea, the most refreshing drink in the world.

Babies who have no need of shoes and who are learning to walk on grass.

A cool shower after a hot work out in the flower bed.

The luxury of lingering over coffee in the morning as there is no math to teach.

Watermelon juice gracing the chin.

Reading books by the drone of the air-conditioner.

Laundry piles with very few socks.

Muffins made with fresh zucchini and eaten warm from the oven.

Picnics & sweaty play at the park.

Sultry afternoons served over easy.

With all due respect to Mr. Williams, I beg to differ.

Any way you cut it, summertime is the most wonderful time of the year.

This, right here, is the time of good cheer.

And I have the most marvelous crop of zinnias blooming in my garden to prove it.