We in Canada really treasure our summers.

They are short.

They are crammed with plans.

They are a time to both take it easy (from school, and hopefully work), but also make sure we can stuff in as many adventures as we can.

And make them memorable. 

Which means that the weekends are always terribly busy. With good stuff…memory making stuff. Barbecues with friends, hiking, canoeing, outdoor swimming, or picnics. Camping, if that’s your jam. The list can be as endless as we can be creative. The only condition being it has to be outside.

Soaking in sunlight for the whole year’s worth is hard work after all!

This past weekend, I drove an hour north west of the city to meet my friends at a spa. This place had outdoor pools for hot and cold plunge, and plenty of chaise lounges for relaxing with just green all around us. The buildings also housed a sauna, a steam room and an indoor pool. We bumbled around from one spot to the other during our day. The cold plunge was too cold to stay in for more than a very few minutes. I am glad we braved it though. The sauna was relaxing, and the steam room always makes breathing hard for me. But the sweating feels great.

We had a long chit-chatty lunch…there is always so much to talk about amongst friends, right? And I have known these lovely people for almost two decades. Which means we have seen each other grow up as humans, and in life.

My favourite bit of the day was though, when in the middle of the afternoon, when moving seemed hard, the sun was bright, we just lay down on our lazy chairs under the shade of a tree. The time slowed down. The breeze made life wonderful. And we talked some but mostly not.

Because with old friends one doesn’t feel the need to fill time, right?

So we were comfortable in our silences, we were spent from the sauna and our massages. Our bellies were full from our lunch. We were not keeping an eye on the time. We didn’t have our phones with us.

Bliss is a great word to describe that time of our afternoon. And, well, a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon, in my opinion 🙂 And before braving the Saturday evening traffic home to regular life…