Now that summer is really over – the last vestiges of the warm Santa Ana winds mostly gone – Laguna Beach residents embrace winter like a seasoned lover.
Make no mistake, Lagunatics love winter because it’s the best time of year, but we try to retain the highlights of summer and here’s why.
At the end of summer we take stock of our lives, our annual progress. Did we live up to summer’s hype? Did we fulfill the promise to ourselves that this summer we would do THAT THING? Maybe scuba dive for the first time. Or skimboard in front of our kids. Any number of things.
The challenge now is not extending summer by clinging desperately to the trappings of sun and mirth, but to somehow apply its freedom and optimism throughout the year.
Try to hold on to the bright blue canvas, dappled like an energetic oil painting, and use it as a guide.
If we’re honest, maybe we have fallen short at squeezing the life out of summer. Or maybe the summer was so great we didn’t want it to end. Maybe it’s somewhere in the middle, and we just want to distinguish our life as above average.
And so we try. We embrace the start of winter by walking, biking or driving around town with extra determination, as if we have more purpose.
Stubborn, we want to do all the things that define the sandy pockets of our lives.
Unfortunately, the lessons of summer often don’t translate so much to winter. The challenges are different – easier perhaps.
Thankfully, in both seasons there is still the smell of salt and the rhythms that envelop us. There is with each wave an inevitable cadence of renewal. All things become new.
Now, in winter, as the water turns cold and the skies darken, there is always the spirit of summer’s warmth and possibility in our belly.
Which makes winter a joy to unfold, combining light and dark, tethered and free.
