Summer is Here in Full Strawberry Swing

The summer solstice came and went this past Friday at approximately 7:59 p.m. Yes, apparently there's even an exact time that we can officially welcome summer. But for me, it wasn't about sitting around until the exact moment, it wasn't even about the exact day, but it was exactly about where I was and who I was with.
Friday morning I picked up the new Coldplay CD. I listened to it here and there to and from work, but still hadn't really spent any quality time with it. But that purchase was a nice breathrough into a weekend that rolled right into those warm and fuzzy summer moments I'd been waiting for.
A gathering at my place of close friends, a homemade spread, the glow of candles, my "granola" self (according to my pal Mark-I'm not always "granola," but damn if I don't have it in me), Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat (yes, you must try one and only one b/c it tastes like fruit loops and who wants more than one froot loop beer?) and then the whir of the CD player. The CD plays through, adding a wonderful hum in the background. A few songs catching my ear away from conversation, but then I was back in again. The first eight tracks spin through. My Leinenkugel was swallowed up and I had moved on to some Brooklyn Summer Ale...and then...VOILA. Wait am I at a hoedown (just for the first second)? Shit no. I'm in Strawberry Swing.
That was the mark of summer. The weekend continued with a morning bike ride for coffee, a run in the park, continuous beer drinking and reading beneath the shade of a canopy of leaves. Yes. Summer is official here.

Cheers!
Nella