Summer Rhythms

Summer rhythms.

They have begun to take hold.

Our house is old, and it doesn’t do a great job of keeping cool in warm weather. So during summer I move the baking to the evening, after the sun has set and all my people are tucked in bed. It allows the house to cool while we sleep.

Baking bread is so ingrained in our weekly rhythm so it has been quite an adjustment, but I’m getting there! The heat has changed the rise times so this loaf got a bit over proofed and fell a tad while cooling. Last week I had already turned out my light when I remembered I needed to make the bread, so down I went with a good book and tired eyes.

The changes with the seasons are subtle, but really shift the anchors of the day. Some changes that happen as we shift to a summer rhythm are:

• Everyone naturally wakes earlier
• With everyone up, fed and dressed earlier, it provides the opportunity to have the bulk of our outdoor time in the morning before the heat really hits
• All meals and snacks are shifted to suit this new time, and are lighter in nature
• Some weekly activities change, for instance instead of baking, we find things to make that don’t use the oven, like no bake snack balls, chocolate pudding, crispy rice squares and treats over the fire on the weekends.
• Any lessons are now in the afternoon so we can make the most of cooler morning times
• We have a longer quiet time in the afternoon to get some much needed rest from these early early mornings.
• Once the sun has dipped we try and go out again for a little while before bed.
• Weekly chores shift as well; bread baking is moved to the evening, laundry is moved to the morning so the clothes can dry on the line during the day, garden care is added, dinners shift from comfort foods to cooling foods, our weekends are often spent up north, so grocery shopping and errands are shifted to the week days.

Bedtimes stay the same, especially with the long quiet time each afternoon, and for the most part, except for breakfast, meal times stay the same as well.

Each season brings its own set of adjustments as we lean into the unique impulse of each one. It is more of a gradual unfolding than a big switch, happening over a few weeks. Sometimes when spring holds on a bit longer, we aren’t shifting into the summer rhythm until July. But other time, that summer rhythm is already well underway in May. It isn’t about a specific date or rigidity, it is about following our natural impulses as we adjust to the familiar impulses each season brings.

Until next time,
Marina