The Porch Swing Chronicles: Way Back Wednesday: Summer Wish Lists

As I kicked off my summer break this week, I came across these posts from last summer. Since it's June, I can't really complain about the number of days remaining in my summer break (see below), but I thought revisiting these lists might be fun. I especially enjoyed the intro and list from last June:

It’s the last day of class and the weather is beautiful. I’m sitting out on my patio with a fleece throw on my lap because the sun has gone down and it’s gotten cool. This is my favorite weather and one of my favorite places. By Christmas, it will be bigger and glass enclosed (and hopefully better furnished as I am currently sharing space with bicycles).

One year later, it is enclosed, much better furnished, and the bicycles have found another home.

It’s a good spot for relaxation and contemplation and I, doing a good bit of both, am making plans for the down time I promised myself when my summer class wrapped. Here are the top 12 on my list, in no particular order (with check marks and parenthetical comments reflecting how well I'm doing so far this summer).

Sleeping in ✔️
Putting an away message on my work email ✔️
Not running out of day before I run out of list (working on it)
Reviving my sketchnoting and trying out some of the thing I’m learning in my graphic design class (still on the list)
Curling up with a book, guilt-free, in the middle of the day (still on the list)
Getting to all the things at the bottom of my list (still on the list)
Paying attention to all the little projects around my house (working on it)
Cleaning and organizing my office and maybe even my basement (still on the list)
Sitting down and doing something I enjoy without the nagging feeling that I should be doing something else (working on it)
Emailing friends and spending relaxed time with family (working on it)
Writing ✔️
More porch time on cool mornings and night like this one ✔️

I also found it interesting that, last summer, I started digging into writing goals ahead of summer break, first with preparation for the virtual retreat, then the retreat itself and, finally, with the Write-a-thon I rolled into immediately after that. The goal was to set myself up so I was ready to roll when class was over, something I did again this summer with an online class last Saturday and a three-day workshop this week.
boredteachers.com

When I looked back on a second post, this one from the end of last summer, my list of a dozen things I like about summer had quite a bit of crossover:

12. No papers to grade (after summer session is over)

11. Being able to legitimately ignore my work email (some of it, anyway)

10. Sleeping in (not a morning person)

9. Starting my days out slowly (tiptoeing into them, if possible)

8. Spending mornings on the patio (a reasonable facsimile of the screened-in patio at the beach)

7. Listening to the bells (from a local church whose carillon plays hymns at noon)

6. My birthday (even when I don't like the number, like this year)

5. Netflix and HBO binges (yes, that means you Hacks and Mare of Easttown)

4. Calendars with empty pages to fill (which is why I don't know what day it is!)

3. Trips to the beach (though fall is nice too)

2. Time to read for fun (actually finishing books!)

1. Planning new things (relaxation leads to creativity and time with people I love)