Editorial: Summer fun is up to us

Ah, summer.

The start of the season is officially here, although that might seem hard to believe.

When Pennsylvania went into coronavirus lockdowns back in March, it was still winter. Spring hadn’t yet sprung and that whole season passed while we sat behind closed doors, hoarding toilet paper and baking bread.

Many of us missed the transition from snowfall to spring showers to blooming flowers that marked the march of time.

But now, as we are mostly emerged into the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s phased reopening, we are stepping out to find we are not just in a different world. We’re in a different season.

Except, is it really summer?

Summer, for many people, is more than just a date on a calendar. It’s a sensation and a ritual. It’s almost an emotion.

Summer is that feeling of exultation when kids burst out of school on the last day, eager to get a start on weeks of doing something, anything, that isn’t sitting at a desk. Fall can be less about when the leaves drop than it can be about kids being ready to head back to class. For a lot of kids, that could be here already.

Summer is that heady rush of carnivals and fairs. It’s sharing cotton candy with a friend and splitting a Popsicle. The carnivals and fairs are being canceled. It’s hard to share a bag of cotton candy from six feet away.

Summer is swimming pools and sleepovers. It’s summer camps and vacation Bible school. It’s so many fun activities with family and friends. And so many of those fun activities won’t happen this year. Lots of public pools are closed. Those that are open have limits on occupancy. If some camps and VBS are happening, they are going online.

Everything that seems to define summer has been captured in a jar, like a lightning bug, waiting to see if precautions have worked and the virus is keeping its downward trajectory in Pennsylvania, or if covid-19 will come back with a second wave that already seems to be hitting states like Florida.

We can do this, people.

Summer is heat and fun, yes, but it’s also about spontaneity and creativity. It’s not having a pool, but having a blast in the sprinkler. It’s turning a backyard picnic into a beach vacation. It’s camping in the living room when it rains.

We got through Easter and the end of school. We got through proms and graduations. We did Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. It wasn’t perfect but anyone who has ever planned a wedding can tell you that shooting for perfect always falls a little short.

Summer isn’t just that day on the calendar, but the day is here. It’s up to us to make summer what we want it to be.

Who wants a Popsicle?