Facebook updates and Tweets fill my news feed about people getting excited for fall.

“Just bought apple cinnamon candles, so excited for fall,” Tweets one of my followers.

“Can’t wait to wear my new jacket and scarf when the weather turns cool,” Updates a Facebook friend.

I look at these comments in my news feed and shake my head in annoyance. What is wrong with these people? In a few months, these comments will turn to “Screw this cold weather!” and “I hate the snow!”

Why are we wishing away these past few precious weeks of summer? I miserably look at the date everyday, seeing August slowing disappear in front of my eyes.

I pass the recreation and wellness center almost everyday on campus and I think to myself, oh nooo. Soon, very soon, I will be forced to run in there, on……a treadmill! (If you haven’t read my other post, I hate the treadmill with a passion. BUT living in Northeast Ohio, I am forced to pay the treadmill a visit in the ridiculous winter months.)

One of my favorite memories and activities of summer is running outside. I enjoy running my route after a long day at the office where I’ve been a grueling intern the past two summers. Nothing says summer more to me than putting on my running clothes and sweating in the heat around 7 p.m. That’s my time where no one can reach me. I cherish that time. But in the winter, when there’s snow or ice on the ground and you have to wait in line for a treadmill and run uncomfortably close to some stranger next to you… it’s horrible.

Just knowing that fall is on its way and my time running in a tank and shorts is limited makes me sad.

So to pay the glorious summer months some tribute, I’ve devoted this post to why I love summer.

1.) Shorts. To me, pants are just uncomfortable. I hate the feel of cold, stiff jeans. What better thing to do then slide into a pair of comfy shorts?

2.) Baseball. This comes from my 12 years of experience playing fast-pitch softball. There really is nothing more perfect to do on a warm summer night than check out a game. (Be it major league or little league, it’s a summer game with many great summer memories for me.)

3.) Swimming. Not the disgusting, indoor pool swimming, but the throwing-yourself-into-a-pool-cause-it’s-so-hot-outside-and-you’re-dying-of-heat swimming. That certain humidity where you get out of the pool soaking and a few minutes later you’re laying on your towel sweating again. Call me crazy but I love hot weather.

4.) Crickets at night. I love hearing the chirping of crickets outside my window on a warm night. Call it the country girl in me, but I love it.

5.) Mowing the grass. I love the smell, I love the sound. It all means summer.

6.) Ice cream at night with your friends. Sitting outside an ice cream joint, joking and laughing with your friends. Perfection.

7.) Cold beer. You know those days where it’s just so hot and humid that a nice cold beer would make life great? Yep, think about it, those moments happen in summer.

8.) The beach. Be it the Pacific, Atlantic or Fairport Harbor up on Lake Eric that I went to as a kid. The beach is summer at its finest. The waves, the sand, the smell of sunscreen. It’s perfect.

9.) Barefoot in the grass. Be it running out to your car to get something really quick or going to check the mail. You don’t need to slip on shoes or put 17 layers of wool socks on in the summer. Your feet can skip over gravel or dirt and land soft in the grass. Running barefoot in the grass is a true feeling of childhood.

10.) Bonfires. This one might be the country girl in me as well, but sitting around a bonfire on a warm summer night, laughing with friends, reminds me of the simple life. When things are as difficult as roasting a smore or deciding if 2 a.m. is too early to head to bed.

Keep these things in mind as the past few weeks of summer fade. But don’t let the memories or the warmth in life fade.

Keep running.