with chocolate-dipped paletas

 

2. in america it is now "officially" long june, a concept that originated from the debate "june is better than july" in one of my eternal favorite podcasts the great debates, in which steve hely, arguing june is better than july, tries to alter the terms of the debate in his favor by declaring that when we speak of "june" rather than the calendar month, we're really speaking of "long" june, which starts at memorial day (end of may) and ends at the end of july 4th (american independence day), which the other debater dave king has to pause arguing against him and step outside of the debate because despite himself he can't help but celebrate this concept.

 

3. summer for me is a season of return (i mean every season, but especially summer) and i have been publicly thankful in these pages for it before but will every summer be returning to the poem "the charm of 5:30" by the late great david berman, depicting a scene where "we're within inches of the perfect distance from the sun / the sky is blueberries and cream, / and the wind is warm as the air from a tire", where "you take off your / sunglasses after a long drive and realize it’s earlier / and lighter out than you had accounted for", and which you can hear a younger summer version of me reading on my ancient tumblr here. i'm thankful that near the end of the poem he writes "somewhere in the future I am remembering today" and i'm thankful to remember past summer moments and to enshrine nice new ones like yesterday evening in this external memory so i can return again (and again) (and again).