The pleasure and possibility of summer

Even though it happens every year, I still find myself caught off guard in the late spring, when the day lengthens incrementally, and sunlight slinks around well past dinner time. Summer is here, and with it all our planning for three months which fly by in the blink of an eye. That’s probably where many of us find ourselves now, making plans. But whether trying to line up activities for children, organising family trips, or negotiating work responsibilities with much-needed time off, summer now can feel just as stressful as other times of our busy year. And for many of us, the busyness of planning and working is probably spent indoors.

When I was a kid, whether in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire or America, entire summers were spent outside, only running inside through the kitchen door for a drink or a bandage. The fixed boundaries of our play space, whether a few neighbourhood blocks, a back yard or a park, felt almost as much like home as my own house.