Summertime is fast approaching in Charlotte County. School’s out. The pools and lakes will be open for business on Memorial Day weekend, and family cookouts will be in full swing.

While you won’t find any beaches or significant summer attractions here in Charlotte County, those comfortable summer nights hanging out with friends and family rival any fancy vacation by far. After all, summer is not just another season out of the year. It’s a feeling. In that respect, Charlotte County is fortunate enough to be able to experience each individual season as intended.

Like author John Steinbeck said, “what good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?”

Experiencing a summer in Charlotte County is often greeted with anticipation for warmer weather and special memories that can be captured in just a few short months out of the year. During the summer, time seems to stands still.

In popular literature, summer is often idolized as the ideal season to garner new experiences and take chances. Each summer promises to be better than the next, full of excitement, sun and long carefree days.

However, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 states, “and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

After those summer nights have ended and the school buses start to roll again, the countdown begins until yet another summer season makes an appearance.

“Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy,” said author Regina Brett.

While summer technically only lasts from the June Solstice to the September Equinox, let us make every day of the year like summer. Let our hearts be filled with warmth and sunshine.

Italia Gregory is a staff reporter for The Charlotte Gazette. She can be reached at italia.gregory@thecharlottegazette.com.