Playworks sells toys that invite play and enhance early childhood development [fun for all ages]

Memorial Day has come and gone, and we're heading towards Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the turning point after which each day becomes shorter. Let's resolve to celebrate the season by slowing down and savoring what makes summer the season we dream about all winter.

Plant annuals, then cut flowers to bring indoors. What says summer better than vibrant marigolds, sunflowers, and zinnias? Each comes in a variety of sizes, heights, and colors. If space is limited, plant a color pot of your favorites.

Think about growing giant sunflowers, then drying the seeds for making wreaths for the birds come winter.

Grow vegetables. Harvest and delight in the flavor of homegrown tomatoes, even if your garden is a pot on your patio. Check out square foot gardening, lasagna gardening and vertical gardening techniques for easy and bountiful harvests. One family nearby has successfully turned their urban parkway into an amazing intensive garden with a wide variety of vegetables, including corn and pumpkins. I delight in walking by and watching their garden grow.

Visit your local farmers' market and breathe in the fragrance of locally grown fruits ripe from the tree. Just thinking about the smell and taste of ripe Saturn peaches has me looking forward to our Thursday farmers' market.

Lie on the grass and watch clouds float overhead.

Search for a four leaf clover.

Make daisy chains and clover necklaces.

Run through sprinklers on a hot summer's day.

Take a walk in the rain. [Just the thought of that makes us envious, living as we do where summer is the dry season.]

Sip ice cold lemonade.

Make popsicles from fruit juice and ice cream from your favorite summer fruits.

Laze away an afternoon with a good book, ideally in a rocker on a porch with an iced tea by your side, if you're lucky enough to have a porch.

Take a nap in a hammock under a shade tree, if you get the opportunity.

Spend time with family and friends, sharing simple meals and making memories.

Breathe deeply and smell the roses, jasmine, honeysuckle, or whatever fragrant plants grow where you live.

Celebrate summer! It will be gone all too soon.

Christina Wallerstein
Heidi Floren