Ode to Summer
I’ve always loved Summer. Just about everyone does — at least while we’re kids.
Summer: Those warm, lazy days, when we could sleep late, stay up a little later and have to decide between going swimming or playing a pickup baseball or softball game with friends in the neighborhood.
An idyllic schedule only broken by the weekly lawn mowing.
Well, anyway, that’s my rosy recollection of my youthful Summers…
These days, though, Summers are much different — beyond being grown up and having many, many more responsibilities to fill our Summer days.
When my family first arrived here from Iowa in 1982, Colorado Summers were lovely: Cool, sunny mornings, often followed by a quick rain shower in the afternoon, then usually ending with sublimely clear, almost-chilly evenings.
But increasingly — especially in the last 10 years — Summers in Colorado have gotten hotter and hotter, and that amped-up heat more rapidly dries out the already-fire-prone vegetation due to the state’s low humidity and scarce Summer rainfall.
The result has made our Western landscape much more susceptible to drought and wildfire — resulting in smoky air that can blot out the mountain skyline and that never seems to completely go away until Fall at last comes to the rescue.
I used to think of Summer as a three-month tone poem expressing what Life ought to be: A time of long, sun-drenched days with so many fun things to do.
June is the first tender step into Summer, when Spring’s fickle days seemingly transform into one long, lovely afternoon — capped by the knowledge that there’s still so many delightful Summer days left to enjoy.
July is the jewel of mid-Summer, with water-related sports and outdoor fun calling us to the beach or lake or bike trail. A time to be outside — all while trying to avoid getting a nasty Summer sunburn.
August is Summer in its full glory, when fields are ripening, gardens are pumping out fat, red tomatoes and all manner of fresh veggies, and Summer league sports and family vacations are wrapping up before another school year begins.
But this Summer — like last Summer — has not remotely resembled anything like the once-taken-for-granted season of joy and outdoor fun. And it’s not just Colorado baking and suffering in record-breaking Summer heat.
For decades, we’ve heard dire warnings from climate scientists about the world’s climate getting hotter and hotter due in large part to human activity — primarily the burning of fossil fuels in our cars, homes and businesses.
Many have responded, taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. But many have not, and poor national leadership — especially in recent years — has stymied our nation’s efforts to turn back climate change.
I simply don’t understand why anyone who cares about the future of this country — and the world we all share — could turn their back on this ongoing existential climate challenge.
It comes down to this: What kinds of Summers will our kids — and their kids — have to look forward to and remember?
Without more agreement on exactly what should be done — and soon — I shudder to think about it.
Originally published at https://www.stevenvporter.com on August 19, 2021.
