Tag Archives: summer

Quantifying the day

Leave a reply

Summer days can be tricky. The routine of work is gone and schedules are made up on the fly. Today I had a great workout then spent the next 2 hours in the kitchen doing meal prep. Then I had a doctor’s appointment and decided to drop some food off at a friend’s house.

I had forgotten that there was a World Cup semifinal game and was lucky enough to join my friend for the second half, where all 3 goals were scored. As exciting as that was, I didn’t have a lot of sleep last night and was practically falling asleep on the couch. I came home and had a 20 minute nap before a massage therapy appointment this afternoon.

Now I’m home and heading out in a bit for dinner at a restaurant with my wife and our niece. Yesterday at noon, the only thing scheduled for today was my workout and the massage, everything else sort of came up after that. Looking back on the day now, it has been quite busy, which sounds ridiculous to say when a nap was part of the day.

I guess this is good preparation for retirement. What will constitute a busy day will be so much different than what the work day usually entails. I think I’ve had practice with summers off, but I do believe it’s going to feel quite weird when I see my wife heading off to work in September and my summer mode will continue.

I know my mindset, and I think I will need to figure out how I will quantify my days when retired. I have no desire to just make myself busy, but I also know that I can completely waste a day away if I’m not careful. I don’t yet know what my measurements or scales will be, but I will find a way to ensure that I feel good about how I spend my days.

I spent my day very well today.

Summer nights

Leave a reply

I’ve been staying at my cousin’s house, my sister is in town and we’ve had a couple wonderful days together. But more than the days, the evenings have been wonderful.

We’ve been hanging out in a beautiful back yard with comfy chairs and a fireplace. Shooting the breeze, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company.

When it’s warm, and still bright out until 10pm, summer nights hold a special kind of magic… and being with truly amazing people accentuates the experience.

Longer summers days

Leave a reply

Growing up in Barbados, the gap between the longest and shortest day of the year is just over an hour’s difference. Basically, sunrise is shortly after 6am and sunset happens around dinner time.

Here in southern BC, Canada, I’m writing this at 7:40pm and it’s still very bright out. The sun will still be above the horizon for another hour. If there is one thing I’ve loved about moving to Canada, it’s long, bright summer nights. This is especially great on the west coast. I don’t really enjoy it in places with mountains to the west.

For example, my wife grew up in Nelson BC, and when I used to visit there, the sun would go behind the mountains and it would be dusk for what felt like hours. I find that time of day tiring. I find that my eyes struggle to focus and I quickly feel drained. In Barbados dusk lasts about 10 minutes. You see the sun set below the horizon and moments later you have darkness. To me dusk is meant to be a fleeting moment, not a dragged-out eternity. Back here on the west coast, dusk isn’t as quick as Barbados, but it’s not nearly as bad as Nelson.

The slightly longer period of dusk is worth it here to enjoy a few more hours of summer daylight. I love having dinner and still feeling like there is a lot of the day left… it makes the summer seem longer in the best possible way.

A hint of summer

Leave a reply

Today I was reminded that summer is coming. I’ve had some nice weekend mornings of sitting in the sun already this year, but before today I can’t say that I’ve really felt like summer is on the way.

This afternoon my wife and in-laws went for a walk in a neighbourhood park that’s not too far from us. There were a couple baseball games happening and a group of people practicing cricket. There were a group of kids in the playground celebrating a 9th birthday party, and many others out enjoying the day.

The sun was shining, and I had to take my thin long sleeve shirt off, and was just in a T-shirt. Of course, I do live on the wet/west coast, and there will be some rain in the coming months. But today was a wonderful reminder that summer is just around the corner. I cherish days like this. I don’t even need to be outside all day, I just appreciate knowing that warm days are on the way.

Hold on to the good weather

2 Replies

I had a summer ritual of sitting for 10 minutes in the morning sun over the summer. Shirt off, eyes closed, listening to a meditation. Today I went in the hot tub after my morning walk and then the sun came out from behind the clouds.

I paused and took full advantage. The sun won’t be up and warm enough in the morning much longer as we head into fall, so I’ve got to take every opportunity I’ve got. I’m going to eke out these sunny morning moments before the fall rains come.

I’m also going to keep finding joy in the little things, like holding on to the good weather while we’ve got it.

Short gains, long views

Leave a reply

It’s hard to stick to healthy routines over the summer. It takes a lot more effort than when you have everything dialled in and a schedule to keep. That said, I’m thrilled about how I’ve taken care of myself over the summer. I haven’t just been in maintenance mode. I’ve actually stayed right on top of things and continued with my goals, albeit in tiny increments.

But tiny increments in the right direction still means I’m going in the right direction. The thing to remember is that while the gains are small and hard to see, they are only hard to see when looking short term. I’ve gained muscle this year, and I’ve simultaneously reduced my body fat percentage.

Sure when I compare myself to the start of summer, or even a couple months before that, the gains are small. But when I compare myself to 2 years ago, or better yet when I started my fitness goals 5-and-a-half years ago, the gains are significant!

It’s easy to get frustrated with how small gains can be in the short term, but fitness and wellbeing are lifelong goals and as such gains should be looked at through a longer lens… and I have to say that things are going, looking, and feeling great!

The picture tells the story

Friday was the last day of school, and while I had a good weekend before heading back in to work to clean things up, I felt very unmotivated. When I saw this image shared by a friend and coworker, I knew I had to share it too.

There is a saying, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”

Summer holidays always start very slow for me because suddenly I have time… the time that I said I wish I had, to do all the things I wish I could do. For me that’s more daunting than exciting. I have routines that automate a lot of the things I want to get done. Remove the routine, remove the automation, and suddenly everything takes effort, everything takes motivation, and motivation is harder to maintain than good habits.

So, I’ll go into a bit of a dip. I’ll struggle just to get the usual stuff done, despite having more time. Then I’ll adjust and it will all get better. But I’ve learned to give myself some slack and just slack off for a bit first. And that’s what this weekend was all about.

First official day back

I’m headed to our school board office this morning for our first admin meeting of the year. There are years when this day arrives and I sit in bewilderment wondering what happened to my summer? But this year is one of those years where I’ve felt like I’ve had a wonderful break and I’m ready for the new year.

My regular routine starts today. I’m not writing this at a random time of day, or squeezing my writing in right before bed (like last night). Rather, I’m up early, I’ve already meditated, and I’m getting on the treadmill as soon as I publish this. It feels good to be back to my routine.

The new year brings with it both excitement and trepidation. I always start the year with specific goals in mind, and I feel enthusiastic, yet apprehensive. The year always holds so much promise. New plans, new students, new and unexpected scenarios all lie ahead.

There is a lot of prep work to do, but no amount of prep makes you feel 100% prepared. Planning only gets you so far when you are dealing with so many people in different roles. You might be calm and ready, but others will be nervous and unpredictable. No matter how well planned you may be, unexpected things will happen.

Schools are places of growth and learning, and real learning doesn’t happen smoothly and with conformity. Things don’t always go as planned. Yet, that’s part of the excitement. The unknown, the unexpected, the surprises along the way, the connections you make, the solutions you work on, and the collaboration required, are all part of what makes this job exciting and unique.

It’s the first day back, and so a whole new adventure begins…

Blackberry season

For me blackberry season is bitter sweet. I love the taste, and enjoy picking and eating them, but they are also a reminder that summer is coming to an end. Blackberries, or blackblellies as my oldest daughter first called them, are so unique.

I’ve already shared that,

“Blackberries are a unique fruit. I can eat a handful of raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries, and it doesn’t matter how many I put in my mouth, I enjoy them all the same. That’s not the case for blackberries. Blackberries taste better when you have one at a time. Two blackberries in your mouth are not as enjoyable as just one.”

So, carefully, watching for thorns, I search for ripe berries. I pick them and place them one-at-a-time in my mouth… and I savour every one. Yes, summer is coming to an end, but I have the joy of blackberries to help soften the blow.

Pools Out for Summer

It took a good part of the weekend, but I got the pool set up for the summer. The water pump driven solar panels are up, but as you can see in the image the pool is not quite full yet and so I still have to test all my pluming connections for leaks… but the hard part is done.

For the past few years the ritual of getting this pool ready has marked the start of summer for me. While it will be at least 2 weeks before it gets warm enough to swim, having it up and spending more time in the back yard makes the last few weeks of school a lot more enjoyable. It certainly helps that it’s also bright out a lot later.

The funny thing is that I really don’t go in the pool much. My wife loves it and gets in regularly, while I mostly go in to vacuum it. I might sit on an inflatable seat a handful of times at the most, but I love the hot tub and would rather sit in it than the pool. For me the pool isn’t a destination, it’s a symbol, a symbol of summer.