“What good is the
warmth of summer,
without the cold of winter
to give it sweetness?”
John Steinbeck

Ah, yes… warm August nights. How I dream of them in February when they are just a faint memory of summers past.

At this point in my life, enjoying such an evening here at home, sitting outside on the patio enjoying a cold drink and, perhaps, a chocolate chip cookie or two, is an absolute joy. For the most part, just as February’s “California cold” really isn’t all that cold, “California hot” in August is most often comfortably warm. Tonight was one of those evenings.

In my younger days, I made an effort to escape to the Bahamas for a vacation in the first two weeks of August. In 1979 and 1981, I made enough money teaching summer school to cover the cost of my trips. In 1985, I took a group of young adults from Saint Lawrence Parish in Santa Clara to Nassau to meet up with young adults from local parishes on the island. 

Now, August nights in Nassau are too warm for me. I could probably get used to them easily enough, but my days of spending hours on a beach getting a sun tan and partying at The Rum Keg in the Nassau Beach Hotel at night are history. My visits to Nassau now are preferably in the more temperate months of March and November.

Here at home, though, I can enjoy the solitude of a summer evening right outside my front door. It’s amazing that with a bit of imagination, sitting outdoors with patio lights strung around the perimeter of the deck, it’s fairly easy to imaging that I’m back in the islands. I can play a little reggae music on Pandora and feel the island vibe. When I do this, I’m in my happy place.