One Simple Way to Really Enjoy the Last Few Days of Summer

I did something today that I hardly ever do.

I ate lunch.

What I mean is, I actually sat down and deliberately enjoyed my lunch.

I’m sure you know what I mean. Most days I rush around—you know you do it too—running errands, cleaning up messes, throwing in loads of laundry, doing those usual tasks that consume my days so that I don’t usually take time to sit down and properly eat lunch.

It’s kind of crazy, really. The French seem to have figured out how to do lunch very well—fresh cheese on a warm baguette or a slice of quiche with salad. Oh my! Even the British have figured out that some warm form of meat and potatoes wrapped in pastry constitutes a suitable lunch, even if held in one’s hand and eaten on the run.

But we Americans rarely take the time. We’re too busy.

Most days I’ll grab a piece of fruit and very possibly a cookie while rushing around my house. Sometimes I’ll eat it in the car on my way to the cleaners or to the grocery store where I’ll get more food that will not be lunch. The closest thing to a “hot lunch” that I ever get is cheese and crackers warmed in the microwave.

When I’m at work, I do try to grab a salad in the dining hall, but I’ll always eat it at my desk.

Today, though. Oh, today is beautiful. Today is warmish-late-August-just-verging-on-cooler-less-humid-September, and it’s oh-so-sweet.

So after I worked in the library for a bit this morning, I decided that I’d treat myself to lunch at my favorite little café, but rather than eat there (I despise eating alone in a restaurant) I would take my lunch to a park.

I sat under a perfectly blue sky and read an article next to a peacefully trickling fountain.

I listened to cicadas singing and the rhythmic squeek-squeek-squeek of a swing at a nearby school.

I fully tasted the sweet dates in my quinoa salad (sublime) and the tangy tomato chutney on my grilled cheese sandwich.

I watched a young couple holding hands as they walked side by side.

And I embraced thirty minutes of peace in the middle of my day.

Before I know it the weather will turn colder and my days will be busy and I’ll forget to each lunch again, but for now, it’s almost September and these days aren’t meant to be hurried.

September days are meant for lunch.