Let’s get outdoors and move around. Good to walk. Good to see things. Good to do things. Good to stretch it a bit and try something new. Taste something new, smell something new, hear something new, go someplace new, talk to new people, try new activities.
Here’s some of Todd’s pro tips, right-good suggestions for summer activity fun:
Play tennis. Sport for a lifetime. Great stuff.
Walk barefoot
Listen to reggae
Take in a real baseball game played right in front of you ... better yet, dig out a glove and a ball and toss it around in the backyard — why not?
Make some real lemonade — and go outside on a summer’s eve a’sippin’.
Sit in a porch swing and swing it.
There really is a lot of good stuff you can do instead of screen-staring until your bleeding eyes fall out. Even gamers know this deep inside. Reality always wins. Always.
Catch fireflies
Go fishing, even if you’re just an amateur
Get up early, and watch the sun rise and darkness fall away — be sure you can get a good horizon view.
Wear madras plaid.
Read a real book
Ride a bike to church
We’ve got a lot of opportunities around the Illinois Valley-Starved Rock Country-three-county area. Let’s do it.
Have a cold beer with friends
Go camping and have a nice campfire
Get yourself some chicken at Harold’s in Streator
Have a water fight; even better with water guns
Eat orange popsicles
Swim in the swimming pool
Can you think of some, too? I love summer. It’s a time when there’s no school. You can wear shorts; throw around baseballs, frisbees and footballs. You stay up late. You get up early to that great, quiet, early, early morning summertime chill. Because the sunset is late, you get to do more on summer evenings.
OK, just a few more radical suggestions here.
Wear a goofy hat and — or — goofy sunglasses. (You know what I’m talking about!)
Go on a pilgrimage to a special church or shrine
Dig out bocce balls or croquet or badminton and give it a swing
Visit a drive-in movie. There’s one in Earlville.
Take a bike ride longer than five miles. Try a canal trail.
Look up into the evening sky and see the stars — do you know any constellations?
Drink a nice gin and tonic on the patio
And I can’t really end without saying it — play more tennis! It’s good for you.
- Todd Volker lives in Ottawa with his wife and son, and they enjoy reading, kayaking, hiking, tennis and camping. He’s a lifelong learner with books in his hands.