By Virginia Brucker

Summer—everyone’s favourite season. Longer days mean more leisure time and good weather lets us enjoy outdoor meals with family or friends. Days at the beach, no school for kids, saying yes to a swim and letting the housework slide. Hot dogs and corn on the cob. A cold drink in the shade. Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Here are just a few of the joys of summer:

• Walking on the Harbour Front Walkway
• enjoying locally-grown fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s market in Cedar, Beban Park, or the Errington market
• outdoor movies and festivals
• experimenting with new flavours of ice-cream
• barbequing at every opportunity
• buying lemonade from little kids’ stands
• enjoying a picnic at one of our many beaches
• taking a dip at Westwood Lake
• cold watermelon
• having a nap in a hammock
• visiting the Sandcastle Competition in Parksville
• doing yoga outside
• having a water balloon fight
• making jam, pie or crisp with fresh fruit
• reading in the shade
• iced coffee or sun tea or popsicles
• nail polish on your toes
• garage sales
• blowing bubbles
• river tubing
• reading a book in the shade under a tree
• watching hummingbirds at your feeder

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” Sam Keen