By JOSH RESNEK
July 4 has come and gone, and with it, that moment during the short New England summer when we are in the thick of it, and loving it, and feeling for a brief mind-less instant, that the warmth will last for a long, long time.
It is the dead of summer, that short snap of the finger or swim in the ocean at the beach or a pool when we
New Englanders have as much summer in front of us as behind us.
The romance and good feelings during this time of the year are abundant.
We are carefree. We wear short sleeves and shorts, summer dresses and bathing suits, sandals, and thongs, smiles… all brought on by the warmth.
It is a time of stasis – a sweet passing moment of equilibrium.
Many of us wish this moment would not pass, that the summer might be at this point for months and months.
Nature indulges in no such fantasies.
The past four days of rain cut the searing heat of the week before; climate change type heat that seemed unbearable.
The lines of children and their parents waiting to gain entrance to the public pool at the Everett athletic complex stretched about 150 feet.
The sign reporting the temperature in front of Everett High School hit 100 degrees one-day last week.
Stepping into McKinnon’s was a joy at 65 degrees on that day.
A moment at any of Everett’s banks was a brief cause for celebration.
Even Everett High School was cold as an icicle compared with the unbearable heat outside.
Air conditioners became lifelines.
No air conditioners could signal dehydration, over-heating, and in some cases throughout the region, deaths.
It is the dead of summer, that wonderful, brief, moment when some of you will fall
in love, or fall out of love when a certain popular song will remain in your mind for many years to come recalling memories of the summer of 2021.
We are out of the pandemic. Last summer was a bust.
This fourth of July was a bust.
No cookouts. No fireworks. No flags flying in the breeze for as far as the eye can see.
Nothing seems quite the same anymore to those of us a bit older.
We remain a divided nation during this moment in our lives.
Some folks are suggesting we need a new flag, a new national anthem, a new history to be taught all around to represent the new nation coming up all around us.
Maybe they are right. Maybe they are wrong.
At least our flat screens are working.
I know this.
I share this with you who read this because we all share the New England experience.
It is the dead of summer. There is more summer in front of us than has passed us by.
This is as good as it gets around here for our heads.
Enjoy it.