An Etymology of Summer

The final weeks of school robbed me of my desire to read or write; most of my "free" time found me tied up with a hammer in one hand and a spatula in the other - not to mention the tens of hours I spent writing progress reports. Nothing saps a writer's creative impulses like obligatory creativity. But hark, there was a light at the end of that tunnel, and I have arrived at that warmly familiar state of boredom and inertia that can only be described as summer.

In my newly-won free time, I did some research on this word summer, and what I can tell you is that Old(e) English (sumor) and Proto-Germanic (sumar) etymologies suggest that summer has been around for a really long time. Now this was not in my research, but I think it is safe to infer that people thought it was cool even back then. Shit grew. They ate the shit, fermented the shit that was left over and later drank the shit, then ran around naked drunk on shit because it was nice outside. They made love, had babies, and now you exist. It's all because of summer, really.

So this morning I woke up after eight, made a giant press of coffee, read the New York Times, and watched some YouTube videos. My coffee is cold now, I'm updating this blog for the first time in months, and I feel a few hours of guitar practice in the Man Room coming on. Stay tuned for a blog on the earth oven I'm building in the backyard and an invitation to christen it with a wood-fired pizza party.