Lazy days of summer

Watching our male cat Tigger snooze in my son's sock drawer last night, looking so comfortable and snug, made me realize that the tedium of summer has a quality all its own. I have noticed often that our companion animals rarely worry about those times when things seem a bit slow and repetitive. Our old kitty Sneakers who wandered in to our back yard 12 years ago, enjoys every day with the wisdom of a savvy old Buddhist, always surrendering to whatever the day brings. If it is sunny, she will enjoy every moment of it, moving from warm spot to warm spot, as the day progresses, and easily moving to  shade if the heat becomes uncomfortable. If it is a cold day, she snuggles on a warm blanket. If it is raining, she finds a sheltered place where she can enjoy the sounds and fresh smells of the weather without getting wet. Most of us spend a lot of time complaining about such things as the weather, as if we can control it: it is too hot, too cold, too wet, we are rarely satisfied. Animals seem to find it futile to be annoyed by things that are self evident, like the weather. Time also takes on a different meaning, if you stop obsessing about it. I notice if you stop resisting its inevitability, time can be pleasant even when it is unstructured, slow, so to speak , in modern terms of efficiency. We now think it is a waste of time, to just sit on a free summer day. We feel we need to at the same time, listen to music, play with our cell phone, carry on a conversation, water a plant. It is crazy any more. I watch my cats snooze in the sun or shade, and that is all they do. They do not feel compelled to also catch a mouse, clean their coat, eat, drink water. They have the capability to enjoy one thing at a time. It is an art and a joy we are at risk of losing. As we splinter our attention, we splinter also our relationships. They have to fit in with our distractions, and we are losing the art of just talking to each other without an electronic gadget on hand. It is sad to see young parents at a park or restaurant or mall, playing with their cell phone gadgets while their young children are trying to get their attention, or are getting hurt. I do not allow cell phones or any other electronics , or the good old TV to be on, while we eat dinner together each night. There is no eating in the computer rooms, and we have tea time each night after dinner, and the same rule applies: no gadgets. We talk together, and it is a wonderful bonding tradition, one I have hung on to stubbornly for more than 25 years. I make sure we take time to just be, to sit, to talk, to play a good old fashioned card game, to eat together and to do just that, eat together, without any artificial distractions. As a result, our son is a great conversationalist, who can discuss any topic intelligently, in the company of adults as well as in the company of his friends. On lazy summer weekend mornings, we make a big brunch together, or water the garden, and in the afternoons, go swimming, or for a walk, and let the lazy, even boringly slow of the summer's rhythm sink in, allowing the rest to recharge our minds and bodies before the renewed frenetic pace of work and school that fall inevitably will bring.