BV's Blog - June 30, 2021: Summer's Here

"Summer's here, I'm for that! Got my rubber sandals, got my straw hat!  It's my favourite time of the year and I'm glad that it's here, yeah!" 

Thus sang James Taylor in his song "Summer's Here".  I've always liked that song, because I have to say that summer is my favourite time of the year as well.  These days with the heat wave we've been going through make me almost long for winter again - almost!

I've been a teacher for over 20 years. The school year is thoroughly ingrained in me.  Summer time is like a great big long weekend with July being Saturday and August being Sunday. I try to do all the things that I can't do (at least as much of) during the rest of the year.  More painting and drawing.  More guitar practise.  More songwriting. This is of course what makes me such a homebody.  I do all these things at home!  I'm an introvert! People ask me if I'm going anywhere for the same summer, and I will invariably say in a quiet voice, no, I'm just going to stick around home.

I do plan to attend SongStudio again.  SongStudio is a weeklong course in songwriting, based in Toronto.  Pre-Covid, I went to Toronto and usually thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Last year, SongStudio was held online, as it will be this year. I am looking forward to it.  This year's keynote speaker will be Lyle Lovett.  It doesn't get much better than that! Although I do appreciate the convenience of attending from home, I know I will miss Toronto.  In fact, as I go for my daily walks in the hot summer heat of Calgary, I catch whiffs of Toronto:  heat, asphalt, traffic and subway sounds.  These are smells and sounds that take me right back there.  Funny, eh?

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