The Blog Days of Summer

It's summer. That time of year when people go...outside.

Did you know that for the first few days after moving into my new place, I found myself battling a constant headache due to--get this--the fact that my new place has large windows that allow for an abundance of sunlight.

I'm apparently part troglodyte.

Yet this sunshine has helped to keep me energetic, and my eyes have finally adapted to the unprecedented brightness, so the headaches have dissipated. It's pleasant just to exist in my new pad, to soak up the sunlight and enjoy doing nothing.

That's the best job there is, as my grandfather used to say.

Though my side projects have come to a screeching halt, and though my personal grooming is in a state of steady decline until I can find the box where I packed my razor, I've been happy.

Happy.

I've locked myself into a routine: go to work, return to the old house to pick up more of my stuff that didn't get transported over on Moving Day, relocate that stuff into my new place, eat dinner, watch an episode of Star Trek, unpack a box, play some Legend of Zelda: Link Rides a Choo-Choo Train (A.K.A. Spirit Tracks), and go to sleep. Rinse (gotta shower, you know) and repeat.

I'm a creature of habit. I like routines. The part where I have to move boxes in the warm weather is welcome to change any time, but otherwise, I've been content to slowly transition into my new life.

Though, really, it's not that new at all. Just a new base of operations, and a newfound independence. The abundance of sunlight just makes this transition a brighter one, both literally and figuratively. I'm busy and I'm working almost around the clock in some form or another, but I'm happy. Despite everything, I can afford to take a few minutes to sit and appreciate everything I have and everything that lies ahead. I have a new place to deck out as I see fit, and the sun itself is encouraging me to keep moving.

Even though it's dark outside as I'm writing this, there's enough of a breeze coming in through the window to keep me loose enough for the words to flow into this post. A single post could take me as long as three hours to hammer out from my poorly illuminated and poorly ventilated former room, and I'm convinced that it wasn't just Writer's Block(TM).

My other grandfather once said that he felt most in touch with God when he was working outside, surrounded by nature. Though my interests are predominantly indoor-centric, I've found such clarity, peace, and joy by having such a simple thing as a big window that allows for a nice breeze in my living room. I'm staying inside but bringing nature in with me (without all the yucky dirt and bugs), and for the first time I can remember, I'm starting to like summer.

Impossible.

I like winter. I also like fall and can deal with spring, but summer is not the season I am configured to like. Surely there must be some mistake.

Or perhaps, after a long, manly day of lugging around heavy objects with my friends, and after more than a week of short trips between my old place and my new place, I'm finally beginning to appreciate being outside. Summer is an active season for active people, and as I'm getting off my duff to lug boxes about, I feel like I finally fit in.

But mostly, it's the sunshine. Not the Sunshine, mind you, but nature's desk lamp.

I think it'll be a good summer.